East Peoria, Ill. - A large crowd of fans flocked into Ramsey Gym on Wednesday night to see perhaps one of the more higher-anticipated matches of the home slate for #10 ICC Volleyball (26-10), as the Cougars played host to the 11th-ranked Heartland Hawks (23-8) in a match that would likely hold postseason implications. It was a bit of a heart-stopper, but ICC was able to come away with a five-set victory, winning the odd-numbered sets on route to a 3-2 final score. 

#10 ICC COUGARS 3, #11 HEARTLAND 2
Kills | Hannah Tellor (12), Emily Allison (9), Kaitlyn Baumann (9)
Assists | Shelby Emich (38)
Digs | Emily Cronkhite (24), Makenzie Pflederer (20), Shelby Emich (20)
Blocks | Kaitlyn Baumann (9), Amber Brawley (8), Makenzie Pflederer (8)
Aces | Hannah Tellor (4)



SHE SAID IT - QUOTES FROM COACH TRACY HEFFREN
On the ambiance of the match:
"Oh, it was a great atmosphere. When you look around, and you see both sides of the gym full, it just really helped bring our girls up and their level of play up." 

On how Heartland countered the ICC attack:
"We knew it was going to be back and forth. Them having those big runs, and us not countering them, but then for us to come back in that third set, was huge. We just kept chipping away."

On the effort of the front row (season-high 17 total blocks):
"I thought we did a nice job lining up against their hitters and getting some good hands on the ball. I was very proud of them."

On balancing the thrill of victory with still knowing the schedule's not done yet:
"It's not done yet. It's not decided on anything. Happy for this win, but we're not finished yet. We still have one more region match to play, and it's (vs. Lincoln Land next Wednesday) going to be a battle."

On the strength of the end of the regular season schedule (2 Top-20 teams, 1 final region match, D1 team on the road):
"We have four very strong teams to go into. If we can play as well as we did tonight and just lay it all on the court, we can have that momentum going into the postseason." 

WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE COUGARS
@ D1 Jefferson College Vikings
Jo Ellen Stringer Court - Hillsboro, MO
Friday, October 20th - 5:00 PM
Watch Live (YouTube)