IOWA FALLS, IOWA -- In rolling to a 16-2 record to begin the 2023 fall season, the Ellsworth CC volleyball team had won 14 of its 16 victories by taking 3 straight sets and the other 2 contests they had won 3-1.  But Tuesday night, against Southeastern CC, the Panthers faced a rare 2-0 deficit and promptly recovered to claim the match with the Blackhawks, 3-2.  SCC jumped ahead in the match with scores of 25-15 and 25-23.  ECC started their comeback by taking the 3rd set, 26-24, and then closed out Southeastern, 25-22 and 15-13 in the decisive final set.

After SCC took the first 2 sets, they built a 10-3 advantage in the 3rd set and looked to be on the way to an easy win.  However, the Panthers battled back to tie the score at 24-all and got the next 2 points, match point won on a Ludine Charron block as ECC stayed alive.  There were 6 ties in the 4th set, the final one at 22-22, before Ellsworth used a Sofia Betteni ace serve and a Manon Morillon kill to even the match at 2 sets apiece.  ECC roared away to a 13-5 lead in set 5 only to see the Blackhawks rally to within 14-13.  The Panthers won the final point to complete the comeback.

Ludine Charron led Ellsworth with her 17 kills and she hit .262.  Ana Clara Cuartero added 13 kills and Sofia Betteni 10.  Elitsa Peneva dished out 36 assists.  The Panthers' defense came up big with 86 digs, led by 19 from Betteni, 18 by Cuartero, 14 by Charron and 13 by Manon Morrilon, who also served 7 aces.  It was the 13th match with at least 10 ace serves for the Panthers.  The 86 digs were the second-most this season.

ECC takes its 17-2 record to Western Iowa Tech on Thursday, then returns home to host Hawkeye CC next Wednesday.