Volleyball Goes Red for Women

This Saturday the Montgomery County Community College Mustangs hosted a trimatch with Harrisburg Area Community College and Lehigh Carbon Community College in support of the Go Red for Women campaign.

The Go Red for Women campaign is a division of the American Heart Association which brings visibility and awareness to heart disease among women.

The Central Campus gymnasium was decorated in red and had heart balloons on display to mark the event. The Mustangs wore red tie-dyed jerseys and red socks and the athletes on the opposing teams sported red ribbons in their hair. 

The Mustangs made a special presentation between the first and second matches, delivering five tips on how to eat heart healthy. The tips were:

1. Eat more fruits and vegetables
2. Eat more whole grain foods
3. Use olive, canola, corn or sunflower oil as your main kitchen fat
4. Eat more chicken, fish and beans
5. Read food labels to help in chosing healthy foods

The team collected over $150 in donations and all attendees received a heart-healthy recipe to take home.

In addition to successfully raising funds for the Go Red for Women campaign, the Mustangs also had a successful showing at the trimatch, adding two more wins to their record.

The team defeated the Harrisburg Area Community College Hawks in five sets, with set scores of 23-25,  25-17, 23-25, 25-13, and 15-11 in the first game of the trimatch. In the second game, the Mustangs defeated the Lehigh Carbon Community College Cougars in three sets, with set scores of 25-15, 25-12, and 25-10.

Mustangs Head Coach Misti Volpe said of the day, "Harrisburg has a good offense, which we had a hard time adjusting to in the beginning of the day. As the match progressed though, our girls really turned up the heat and put pressure on them defensively, which is what helped us turn the tides and win the match."

The Mustangs built off of that momentum to win the match up against the Cougars later in the day.

The statistical leader in the match against the Hawks was freshman Kendall Gazzo, with a collegiate career high of 14 kills. She was followed by sophomore Briana Rodriguez and freshman Liz Herezi with eight and seven kills respectively. Freshman Chelsea Knowles earned the highest hitting efficiency on the team with a .400, notching five kills and only one error on 10 swings.

Sophomore Nikki Reichert also achieved a career and season high in assists with 29. Three players dug double digits for the Mustangs. Gazzo and Herezi racked up 14 apeice, while Reichert added 11 of her own. Sophomore libero Kelsey Kowalick received 30 balls and passed with a 93% efficiency on serve receive.

The Mustangs also excelled in the game against Lehigh Carbon. Alex Griffin and Briana Rodriguez both averaged over a .500 hitting efficiency, earning a .571 and .545 respectively. As a team, the Mustangs tallied 12 aces and 23 digs with an 88% efficiency.