Chanute Tribue Sports
Andrew Towne

BOONE, Iowa – Neosho County Community College volleyball Head Coach Asya Herron had no idea she was on a verge of a big coaching milestone over the weekend when the Panther squad traveled to Boone for the Des Moines Area Community College Invitational. On Friday morning, Neosho County swept Ellsworth (Iowa) Community College 25-11, 25-18, 25-16, giving the 10-year Panther coach career victory No. 200. "It's exciting," Herron said. "To be honest, I had no idea. I asked one of my coaching friends what kind of coach does this make me? He said, somebody that takes it one win at a time." She quickly turned the attention back to her team, who also picked up wins against No. 14 Kirkwood (Iowa) and No. 19 Waubonsee (Ill.). "I was very surprised, but it was very nice to go get three wins in Iowa with top 20 ranked teams," Herron said. "Whether it was win 200 or win one, two or three, I'll take it."
    Against Ellsworth, sophomore Maryssa Recio led the team with 10 kills, while freshman Imani Jones and sophomore Joanna Riggs added nine and eight, respectively. Defensively, Kylie Corneliusen tallied a team-high five blocks.
    The only set back of the weekend came Friday afternoon against Indian Hills (Iowa) in the tune of a 3-1 (13-25, 25-19, 25-21, 25-20) loss. In the loss, freshman Chandler Karr led the Panthers with 11 kills, wile freshman Ryed Creek added 10. Defensively, sophomore Madison Miller recorded 17 digs.
    The next day, the Panthers rebounded with two more wins, bringing Herron's career total to 202. In the first game of the day, the Panthers battled Kirkwood to a 3-2 win. Neosho County took the first two sets (25-21, 25-23), but Kirkwood responded with wins in sets three and four (25-19, 25-20). In the fifth set, the Panthers edged Kirkwood 16-14. Three Neosho County hitters tallied double-figure kills, while Recio leading the way with 20. Karr added 17 and Creek 12.
    In the final match of the weekend, Neosho County knocked off Waubonsee 3-1 (25-16, 25-22, 24-26, 25-20). Again, it was Recio pacing the Panther offense with 14 kills. Sophomore Breann Becker tallied 41 assists, while Jones recorded three blocks. "It's a testament of how strong our conference is that we can go compete with all the other conferences that have top 20 teams," Herron said. "We played well, but I think we could have played better. There is still room for improvement even when we are playing good teams."
    The Panthers (19-9 overall and 3-2 in the KJCCC East) hosts No. 15-ranked Highland Community College (23-6 and 5-1) on Wednesday. First serve is scheduled for 6:30 pm. "Our best volleyball is still yet to come," Herron concluded.