September 12, 2015 7:30 pm • By The Telegram Staff

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- The Raiders went 2-2 against tough competition at the Kirkwood Community College Tournament.

The National Junior College Athletic Association, No. 12 Central Community College volleyball team beat No. 10 Illinois Central and No. 13 McHenry, and lost to No. 1 Parkland and No. 5 Johnson County Friday and Saturday in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

"It was a tough tournament," Central head coach Mary Young said. "To get out with two wins is pretty significant. We saw great competition. We'll really grow from it."

Starting Friday with a match against McHenry, the Raiders won 29-27, 25-19, 19-25, 25-14.

"McHenry has a nice team," Young said. "They gave us some fits with some of their hitting combinations. I was pleased with how we responded after that first set and got the win. Payton (Chohon), we did a good job of getting her the ball. I was happy to see us finish. They had a very nice team."

Chohon had 15 kills and eight blocks, while Riley Dorn tallied 46 set assists against McHenry.

In Friday's second match, the Raiders fell to Johnson County 25-20, 25-22, 25-22.

"Johnson County is No. 5. I didn't feel like we ever got into a solid rhythm," Young said. "We didn't play with a whole lot of energy. For us to be successful, we have to play with energy and we just didn't do that. We had a lot of hitting errors against Johnson County. The disappoint thing was the amount of hitting errors. The positive is we know we can fix those errors."

Keely Woods had a team-high eight kills in the match, while Chohon and Emma Coenen had seven apiece.

After going 1-1 to start Friday, the Raiders matched that record Saturday, starting off with a 25-22, 25-17, 25-20 win over Illinois Central.

"Illinois Central is very well coached," Young said. "They're very calm and have a very big front line. We pulled away right toward the end of Set 1. After the way we finished yesterday, that was a very big set for us. We pulled away after that. We started creating a lot of their errors and that was the difference to get the three-set sweep."

Chohon and Morgan Nikkila had nine kills each.

The Raiders faced top-ranked Parkland in their last match. Parkland won 25-17, 27-25, 25-17.

"They've been No. 2 the last two years. They're such a solid program," Young said. "I think they've only had one set taken from them all year. We hung with them. The score doesn't show how close it was.

"We didn't get a call to go our way in the match point in Set 2. If we would have gotten that call, who knows how the match turns out, but I feel good about how we competed. In Set 3, we were right there with them again, but we just couldn't hit that extra gear. We played hard and when we walked off the court, we got better."

Woods had a team-high 10 kills in the match, while Dorn tallied 29 set assists.

Central travels to take on McCook Wednesday.

Saturday at Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Match 1

Central (10-6) 25 25 25

Illinois Central 22 17 20

* KILLS: Central - Payton Chohon 9, Morgan Nikkila 9.

* BLOCKS: Central - Hillary Thege 5, Keely Woods 3.

* ACE SERVES: Central - Nikkila 2.

* ASSISTS: Central - Riley Dorn 26.

* DIGS: Central - Alyssa Thege 12.

Match 2

Central 17 25 17

Parkland 25 27 25

* KILLS: Central - Woods 10, Chohon 7, Thege 6.

* BLOCKS: Central - Nikkila 2.

* ACE SERVES: Central - Wells 1, Nikkila 1, Sydney Yong 1.

* ASSISTS: Central - Dorn 29.

* DIGS: Central - A. Thege 17.

Friday at Cedar Rapids, Iowa

Match 1

Central 29 25 19 25

McHenry 27 19 25 14

* KILLS: Central - Chohon 15, Emma Coenen 11.

* BLOCKS: Central - Chohon 8, Coenen 4.

* ACE SERVES: Central - Wells 2, Nikkila 2.

* ASSISTS: Central - Dorn 46.

* DIGS: Central - A. Thege 15, Yong 14.

Match 2

Central 20 22 22

Johnson County 25 25 25

* KILLS: Central - Woods 8, Chohon 7, Coenen 7.

* BLOCKS: Central - Chohon 3, Woods 2, Dorn 2.

* ACE SERVES: Central - Dorn 1, A. Thege 1.

* ASSISTS: Central - Dorn 31.

* DIGS: Central - A. Thege 18.