Bees Back in Final Four

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – The Bees are back in the Final Four.

No. 1-ranked Dallas College Eastfield's volleyball team swept No. 7 Owens Community College, 25-16, 25-21, 25-14, in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III quarterfinals Thursday night at Alliant Energy PowerHouse. It was Eastfield's seventh straight sweep and 27^th this season.

The top-seeded Harvester Bees (32-1) advance to Friday's 6:30 p.m. semifinal match against fifth-ranked Century College (28-4) in a match to air on the NJCAA Network. Live Stats are also available.

McKenzie Anderson had 11 kills, Azoria Davis 10, Carli Banks eight and Brenly Walker seven for the Harvester Bees, who hit .299. Davis had a career-high five aces, and hit .500 for the second straight match on the day. Taryn Doiron had 35 assists. Ava Cole had eight digs and two aces. Banks also had two aces and two blocks. Kendall Wilson had four blocks, and hit .375, with four kills in eight attacks.

Maura Deutschman had five kills, and Kora Rollins and Emmalee Fulk both had four for the Express. Paige Hodlebrink had 11 assists, and Lilly White nine digs.

The Harvesters had nine aces to the Express' five. Eastfield outblocked Owens, 7-3.

The Bees trailed 8-6 in the first set following a kill by Owens' Trista Eitniear. Davis served Eastfield to a three-point lead before Deutschman answered with a kill. The Harvesters extended their lead to 16-9 on a block by Wilson and Walker. Wilson and Davis combined for a block to make it 21-13. Anderson and Davis put away the next two sets from Doiron to push the margin to 10. Anderson banged down two of the last three points to give Eastfield a 1-0 lead in the match.

A kill by Deutschman started a 5-0 run for the Express, lifting Owens to a 13-10 lead in the second set. Walker and Banks had kills, Banks and Wilson used a block to tie it at 13. Owens crept ahead 17-15 before Eastfield used back-to-back aces by Davis to grab the upper hand, 18-17. Anderson's kill pushed the lead to 22-17. Owens pulled within two, following a kill by Eitniear and a couple Eastfield errors. Doiron had a kill, and after an Owens' sideout, Walker and Banks banged home the last two points in the middle set.

Deutschman's kill midway through the third set gave the Express a 13-11 lead. Following a kill by Davis, Banks served Eastfield ahead, 20-13, with eight straight points, including an ace, back-to-back kills by Davis and a block by Anderson. The Harvesters closed it out with a 5-0 run, using a putaway by Anderson, an ace by Davis and two straight kills by Walker.

Eastfield had 15 kills in the first and third sets. The Bees hit .387 in the first and .379 in the third.

It is the second straight year the Harvester Bees advanced to the semifinals. Eastfield swept Century in last year's title match.