Sara Horn knows it is still early in the season. And she understands that her Iowa Central volleyball team has some things to work out.
Horn, though, was happy with what she saw on the court here Friday night as the third-ranked Tritons overcame some initial adversity to sweep Kansas City-Kansas and Marshalltown inside Hodges Fieldhouse.
In the opener with Kansas City-Kansas, Iowa Central (7-0 overall) dropped the first set before responding to win the next three. They took care of Marshalltown in three straight.
"We're still working on figuring out our lineup and had to do some adjusting there in the match," Horn said. "What I was most pleased with was how we responded. We got down, but we didn't get away from our plan of attack. We found new ways and had some girls step up that played really well when we really needed it."
The Blue Devils even took an early lead in the second before the Tritons put together a 5-0 run. After seeing Kansas City-Kansas answer to tie the set at 16-all, Iowa Central scored nine of the final 13 points to even things up.
In the third and fourth sets, the Tritons held firm, building leads quickly out of the gates.
Kansas City-Kansas came into the match having won three in a row after opening the season 0-3 including a four-set loss to Kirkwood. The Blue Devils also picked up a sweep over Marshalltown.
"They are the biggest and best team we have played so far this season," Horn said. "I thought we did a nice job of rolling with what was given to us and getting through the adversity. Our 'super' sophomores (third-year players) showed a lot of leadership on the court."
Jori Hajek had 13 kills and 17 digs in the opener vs. Kansas City-Kansas, Brooke Dobson had 12 kills, Alesha Johnson 40 assists and Baylyn Johnson 18 digs.
Hajek also had a team-high 12 kills with 12 digs against Marshalltown. Angel Baylark had eight kills, Alesha Johnson 25 assists, Baylyn Johnson 15 digs, Haley Alharithy five kills and Bailey Dugan 12 digs.
Iowa Central begins defense of its ICCAC Div. II conference title on Wednesday in Iowa Falls against Ellsworth.
-By Dana Becker