Courtesy of the Daily Nonpareil:
The Reivers bounced back on Saturday to sweep both Laramie Community College and Independence Community College, finishing the tournament with three wins and one loss. Iowa Western swept Pratt Community College on Friday before losing to Butler.
Iowa Western defeated Pratt 25-18, 25-18, 25-16, lost to Butler 25-20, 17-25, 20-25, 25-23, 19-17, bounced back to defeat Laramie 25-21, 25-14, 25-14 and ended the weekend by sweeping Independence 25-15, 25-15, 25-8.
"I felt like we were kind of sluggish all week," head coach Alicia Williams said. "That transpired some sluggish play throughout the weekend. Butler caught us when we weren't at our best.
"I definitely think it's good the girls worked on some things that we talked about the night before after our loss. Just to be able to stay positive too, after such a heartbreaker. It was 17-19 in the fifth set, you can't get much closer than that.
Williams said she still wants to see the Reivers improve in mentally taking care of the ball and cutting down on errors.
"We weren't completely focused or maybe we were too nervous," she said. "(I'd like to see) us play with some more confidence. We had so many errors. In the fifth set alone, we had six or seven errors that were just given to the other team."
Williams said that sophomore Yadhira Anchante and sophomore Dayan Malave both looked impressive during the weekend.
"Anchante just continues to lead our team and impress us with just her composure and being able to take care of the ball and her decision making is really top notch. I hope she can continue that," Williams said.
"I think Dayan Malave has really taken a step from her role last year to this year. She's taken on a lot more responsibility from last year."
