COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA – After picking up two victories on Friday, #12 Laramie County Community College volleyball completed the weekend 3-1 after sweeping Indian Hills Community College (3-0) but fell to #3 Iowa Western Community College (3-0) in the Reiver Classic.

The Golden Eagles are 4-1 to begin the 2018 season.

In the first contest of the day against Indian Hills, the Golden Eagles hit well as they had 42 kills. Five players registered at least five kills, led by Avery Nelson (Colorado Springs, Colorado), who registered a 12 kills and two blocks. Payton Stack (Casper, Wyoming) added eight kills and three blocks, while Cassidy Nelson (South Jordan, Utah) had seven kills and four blocks. Elizabeth Clark (Sandy, Utah) added six kills for a .333 hitting mark. Jessica Benedict (Wright, Wyoming) added five kills in the victory.

Renae Davis (Pleasant View, Utah) dished out 11 assists, while adding six digs. On defense, Kyle Meltzer (Fort Collins, Colorado) had 15 digs, McKayla Earl (Rawlins, Wyoming) had nine and Kasandra Sturges (Parker, Colorado) had eight.

The Golden Eagles took the sets 25-21, 25-18 and 25-23.

"I was a little worried about our energy going into the early match, but our team really showed a lot of focus and played sharp from the first serve," said head coach Austin Albers. "Outside of picking up the win, I loved our fight in set three to come back from trailing double digits. I believe we learned some things about our team in this one that will serve us well this season."

In the match against Iowa Western CC, the navy and gold came out and tested the #3 team in the country and pushed the first set to 30 points. The Golden Eagles fell in three sets (28-30, 20-25, 21-25) but kept the Reivers on the brink in all matches.

Four players recorded at least six kills in the loss, led by Avery Nelson, who tallied 12. Cassidy Nelson and Clark each finished with eight and Benedict chipped in with six kills.

Sturges finished with a team-high 20 assists and added eight digs.

The navy and gold finished with 40 kills and hit .250 in the match.

"We came out and played well, I thought we scored it pretty effectively and we had stretches where our block and defense was really effective," said Albers. "We had chances to finish that first set and they showed why they're ranked #3 in the country, but our girls fought and I hope we got self-confirmation about how close we are to turning the corner. Now we must focus on getting better every day in practice and closing the gap!"

Laramie County will travel to #4 Western Nebraska Community College on Wednesday at 7 p.m.