By Vincent Khan
The Delta College women’s volleyball team finished their 2023 regular season with a record of 14-4. Congratulations to the team for earning a spot in the national tournament! They sit at the 9 seed with their first game being on Nov. 9 at the Alliant Energy Power House in Iowa. They will be facing 8 ranked Harper community college at 1 p.m.
They played their last home game of the season hosting the NJCAA Region XII Division III Championship.
Before Delta took the court, Owens faced Lorain Community College and the winner of that game went on to face Delta. Owens went on to win 3-0. With a packed home crowd, the girls fought hard by not losing by more than seven points each set. They would eventually lose with a final score of 3-0. Even though they did beat Owens earlier this season, it was an understandable loss for Owens ranked number two in the nation.
After the game, Delta’s middle blocker Ashlee Lenhard was named MCCAA Northern Conference Offensive Volleyball Player of the Week. The freshman earned a 3.0 kill average and hit .422 with seven total blocks. Lenhard and outside hitter teammate Kayla Basse commented after the game saying “We didn’t come out at our best but they are a very good team. We do have a few things to work on before nationals.”
First year head coach Angie Compton does consider this season a success. “People didn’t expect us to do much our second year of the program, but our season ended up turning out great.”
Delta has one of the best setters in the country with Sarah Hauck. The freshman has 600 assists,100 kills, and 223 diggs on the year. Sophomore Kayla Basse is notably 6 in the nation with 3.97 kills per set. This team as a whole is also ranked sixth in the conference with 377 errors which shows they are focused and don’t make many mistakes.
Delta stands out with their away record of 7-1. That proves that they are not afraid of competing in any environment outside of their home court. This characteristic should help carry them throughout the national tournament giving them an upper hand against their opponents.
To watch the game live go to www.NJCAA.org/network
