Fine 5 Finish: North Lake Caps Best Season in Program History

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM | CELEBRATION PHOTOS

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – Dallas College North Lake's volleyball team left a punctuation mark on the best season in school history.

The 15^th-ranked Blazers beat No. 6 Sandhills Community College, 25-23, 25-18, 23-25, 16-25, 15-10, at the National Junior College Athletic Association Division III Tournament at Alliant Energy PowerHouse in the fifth place match. It was their first trip to the national tournament.

North Lake (22-18) won its last two matches at the national tournament in five-set battles to finish with a flurry. North Lake's 22 wins matched the most in program history. North Lake went 22-21 in 2010.

Riley Weiher, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, pounded a season-high 18 kills, hit .341, and had three aces and 12 digs. Shi'Miria Phillips had a career-high 17 kills, and added three blocks. Hadley Klock finished with 48 assists and 18 digs. Hailey Pennison had 11 kills and 11 digs. Natalia Gonzalez had nine kills, four aces and two blocks. Katie Lloyd had 21 digs.

Klock finished second in the nation in assists (1,191).

North Lake hit .406 in the second set and .333 in the fifth. Sandhills (37-7) hit .355 in the second.

The Blazers took a 21-16 lead in the first set on Weiher's kill before Caroline Bradford's kill and a North Lake attack error pulled the Flyers within three. Pennison had a kill, and the Blazers used two Sandhills errors to move within set point. A Cassidy Jewitt kill, Sydney Garner ace, North Lake error and block by Jewett and Bradford pulled Sandhills within 24-23. But Weiher put down a ball on the next serve as the Blazers won the opening set.

Klock's kill on the 29^th serve in the second set gave North Lake a 17-12 lead. Brooklyne Dewberry's kill extended it to 20-13. Katelyn Bunting's block allowed Sandhills to cut the deficit to five before the Blazers won the next two points on Weiher's kill and a Flyers' error. North Lake and Sandhills swapped points over the final six serves, with Gonzalez putting away a set from Klock to put the Blazers up two sets to none.

North Lake led 23-21 in the third set, following a kill by Pennison. But Sandhills ran off the last four points to pull within a set. In the fourth set, after Phillips' kill pulled the Blazers within 19-16, the Flyers used a block by Kristin Dodds and Katelyn Bunting to start a six-point run to even the match at 2-2.

Gonzalez's two aces and a kill by Phillips ended a six-point surge to spot North Lake a 9-2 lead. Sandhills ran off six of its own to cut it to 10-9 on Zoey Hall's ace. Pennison and Phillips answered with kills to force a Flyers' timeout as the Blazers built a three-point lead. Phillips put another ball down after the timeout, and a Flyers' error moved North Lake within match point. Following a kill by Bunting to prolong the celebration, Weiher banged home the final point, securing the Blazers' fifth place finish.

North Lake had 75 digs. Sandhills finished with 66. The Flyers had 12 aces and nine blocks, and the Blazers 11 and six, respectively.

The Blazers, who went 3-1 at the national tournament, finished the season with a 10-5 record on neutral courts. North Lake beat eight ranked opponents this season.