The Iowa Central volleyball team punched their return ticket to nationals with a dominating sweep of Des Moines Area here Sunday.

The Tritons claimed the Region XI-A Tournament championship over the Bears inside Hodges Fieldhouse by scores of 25-15, 25-22 and 25-20.

With a record of 40-1 and ranked No. 2 in the country, Iowa Central will be one of the top seeds at the NJCAA Div. II Championships in Cedar Rapids beginning November 18. In the spring, they finished a program-best third after reaching the semifinals.

"For the first time in about three days, I don't have that feeling in my stomach," Iowa Central head coach Sara Horn said. "We knew that we were the favorites coming into regionals, but we still had to come out and win the match. I thought we did a better job of handling that adrenaline dump after coming out strong. 

"It's just a really exciting time for the girls. They get to experience nationals and for all of those that went last time, they said it's their favorite memory."

The Tritons boast several players back from that rotation including all-region tournament selections Katilyn Steffes, Angel Baylark and Alesha Johnson. Steffes made the all-NJCAA tournament team and Johnson was the ICCAC player of the year in the spring.

"It'll be nice to have that experience coming back, and Jori (Hajek) played there in the state tournament last year, so they'll have a good feel for the environment," Horn said. "It can be a difficult place to play, so having gone through it should help with our nerves."

Iowa Central started quick vs. DMACC, scoring 11 of the first 14 points of the match. After a mini-rally by the Bears, the Tritons finished things off on a 7-2 run. 

Baylark and Steffes each had four kills in the first set, with Brooke Dobson adding three. Steffes and Haley Alharithy recorded a pair of blocks each. 

Steffes had five kills in the second set, helping Iowa Central recover from an 8-1 hole. DMACC maintained the lead until a 5-0 run with an ace by Johnson to make it 20-19. In the third, Baylark picked up five kills and Iowa Central never trailed, closing the match with the final four points.

"I'm just so happy for them and proud," Horn said. "We knew there was a lot of pressure on us to win and get back to the national tournament. But this is a group that has handled those pressures and expectations so well all year."

Steffes finished with 12 kills and 10 digs to go along with four block assists, Baylark had 10 kills and Dobson eight. Johnson recorded 32 assists, 13 digs and a pair of kills, Baylyn Johnson had 22 digs and Hajek added four kills with 13 digs. 

Alharithy also had four kills and six block assists with a solo block, while Bailey Dugan and Steffes had two serving aces.

-By Dana Becker