BOONE, IOWA -- The Ellsworth volleyball team went to the DMACC Tournament on Friday and Saturday and got a split in their 4 matches.  The Panthers defeated Metropolitan CC 3-1 (21-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-22) and lost to Rochester CTC 3-1 (25-18, 27-25, 25-27, 25-12) the first day, then were swept by a ranked Illinois Central team 3-0 (25-17, 26-24, 25-9) before sweeping Southwestern CC (25-13, 25-19, 25-18) the next day.

Against Metropolitan, Louise Lion had a solid all-around performance with a team-high 17 kills, 14 digs and 3 service aces.  Audrey Melson added 9 kills to Lion's total and Katie Winter had 8.  Nuria Bravo Santos had 15 or more assists in all 4 matches for the tourney, amassing 37 in this match.  Alondra Acevedo led ECC with 23 digs, while Jada Smith and Bravo Santos each had 9.  Faith Lobo was in on 4 blocks and Winter and Dylann Stephenson 3 apiece.  Acevedo and Stephenson joined Lion with 3 aces.

Melson topped Ellsworth with her 10 kills against RCTC.  Bravo Santos was credited with 17 assists and Acevedo and Peyton Parker had 14 and 11 digs, respectively.

The Panthers only had 21 kills against Illinois Central and no ECC player had more than 4.  The team managed 43 digs and Bravo Santos registered 15 assists.

The win against SWCC was Ellsworth's 2nd over the Spartans this season.  Faith Lobo paced ECC with 10 digs and Melson added 8.  The Panthers served well with 16 aces, topped by Dallymar Panell Diaz's 5 and 3 each for Acevedo, Bravo Santos and Stephenson.  Three players reached double-digits in digs -- Acevedo with 11 and Smith and Bravo Santos 10 apiece.  Bravo Santos added 30 more assists to her season total.

The Panthers play at Hawkeye CC on Wednesday night.