A sweet victory in a hard-fought match had the East Central College Falcons bringing home the hardware as they won back-to-back Region 16 DII Volleyball Championships over the Metropolitan Community College Wolves. The win for the Falcons took their record to 19-10 on the season as they were able to secure the championship in three straight sets 26-24, 25-22, 25-19.
The Falcons were able to claw their way back into the first set with a stellar comeback. On the brink of losing the first set, down 21-24, ECC rattled off a 5-0 run to cap off a miraculous comeback. The first set victory swung the momentum on the side of the Falcons and then the adrenaline started kicking in. ECC trailed against the Wolves in the second set and found ways to score and eventually score the last three points to cruise to the win in the second set. Then again, down 7-2 in the third set, the Falcons’ feathers didn’t ruffle as they mounted what seemed to be a relentless attack combined with good blocking and defense to take home the third set.
A core nucleus of sophomores was able to experience back-to-back championships to add to East Central’s collection of NJCAA Region 16 DII Volleyball Championships with six over the last fourteen years since reinstating volleyball in 2007.
Coach Mathes- Peters has been able to pull off back-to-back championships twice, 2012 and 2013, and now 2020 and 2021. Coach Mathes-Peters was named the NJCAA Region 16 Coach of the Year now for the 4th time. Trinity Clark was named 1st Team All-Region and the NJCAA Region 16 Player of the Year at the conclusion of the tournament. Clark’s teammates Leinata Leakehe and Olivia Spanley joined her being honored 1st Team All-Region. Emily McKinney and Macey Morehead were named 2nd Team All-Region for their performance this year.
The Falcons will be roosting at home for the district championship as they host the runner-up from NJCAA Region 11 in Iowa next Saturday, November 6 at 1:00PM.
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