A boisterous home crowd provided some fuel for the Vermilion Ironhawks.
The community college volleyball team still fell short of its victory, but the Ironhawks fed off the crowd support at times on Wednesday night, giving visiting Itasca a scare.
The Ironhawks were competitive for much of the night, but were swept nonetheless by the Vikings.
Itasca shook off the noise from Vermilion’s exuberant student section and came away with a 25-17, 25-15, 25-21 victory.
All three sets were competitive, particularly the third as Vermilion took a 17-16 lead.
But that advantage was short-lived and the Vikings scored the next five points to regain control of the Northern Division matchup.
Vermilion fell to 0-11 on the season and Itasca improved to 2-10. The Ironhawk offense was powered by freshman Paige Wilson, who recorded nine kills along with three ace serves.
Mariah Harris added another eight kills for Vermilion, and teammates Aubree Gerlovich and Emily Burns had two apiece.
Gerlovich passed her way to 16 set assists and Amie Strange finished with six digs.
• In action over the weekend, Alexandria cruised past the visiting Ironhawks 25-12, 25-10, 25-13.
Gerlovich wound up with a team-high 12 digs for the Ironhawks, followed by Burns with nine and Strange with eight.
Wilson had five kills, Burns was next with four and Gerlovich picked up nine set assists.
