Northeast volleyball crowned Region XI champions for fourth consecutive year; Sanger named MVP

MASON CITY, Iowa – History does in fact, repeat itself.

Just ask the Northeast Community College volleyball team.

On Sunday, the Hawks (21-16) stormed back after losing the first set to North Iowa Area Community College to claim the Region XI championship in a five-set thriller (23-25, 25-18, 25-19, 20-25 and 15-13) for the fourth year in a row in Mason City, Iowa.

"This team had a great weekend of volleyball," head coach Amanda Schultze said. "It's always hard to beat someone on their home court with a big crowd, but our kids kept their composure and played hard until point 15. We definitely made errors throughout the entire match that we could have done without, but we kept fighting. We were down 13-9 in the fifth set and came back to win 15-13."

Brianna Bauer (O'Neill, Neb.) led the Hawks with 24 kills and 21 digs, while Hannah Heppner (Stanton, Neb.) and Caitlin Orton (Mills, Neb.) added 19 kills, respectively. Freshman standout Josie Sanger (Crofton, Neb.) had 43 digs and 13 assists and was named MVP of the tournament.

MaKayla Davidson (Alliance, Neb.) pitched in 57 assists and 17 digs, while Elizabeth Christensen (Stanton, Neb.) tallied 20 digs.

For their efforts, Heppner and Davidson were named to the All-Tournament Team.

"I am very proud of how these girls competed this weekend and even more proud of how they finished."

The Hawks will head east to compete in the NJCAA DII Volleyball National Tournament beginning on Nov. 21 at the Charleston Civic Center in Charleston, W.V.

For all news related to Northeast Community College athletics, visit northeasthawks.com for complete coverage. Fans can also follow the Hawks on Twitter @NortheastHawks for game-day coverage.