Sara Horn knows the pressure will follow now that her Iowa Central volleyball team is ranked No. 1 in the nation.
On Wednesday night, the Tritons found themselves in an early hole before recovering to score a sweep over ICCAC rival Des Moines Area inside Hodges Fieldhouse.
Scores were 25-23, 25-18 and 25-21.
The Bears, ranked 11th entering the night, jumped out to a 13-3 lead in the first set and appeared to have things in control. Iowa Central, though, answered the call, erasing the deficit with an 8-0 run before scoring four of the final five points to take the set.
"Honestly, I thought both teams looked tired," Horn said. "Even from the start of the match. We were coming off a home tournament, which always takes more out of you because you have more jobs than just volleyball. DMACC looked tired, too, and there just seemed to be a lack of energy on the floor.
"Obviously, being No. 1 we knew DMACC was going to come out after us. I thought the girls did a good job of staying composed and finding a rhythm."
Katilyn Steffes recorded seven kills and Brooke Dobson added three in the first set as the Tritons (13-0 overall, 2-0 in league) had four aces. Iowa Central has won each of the last three conference championships and have now reeled off seven consecutive sweeps.
In the second set, the Tritons got out to an early 7-4 lead and led 18-11 as Steffes, Angel Baylark and Haley Alharithy each had three kills. In the third, Alharithy scored five blocks and Steffes four kills.
"Haley really took over there in the third," Horn said. "DMACC was just getting some momentum and her blocks took it back away."
Steffes finished with 14 kills and 12 digs, Alharithy eight, Baylark had seven, Dobson six and Jori Hajek five. Alesha Johnson recorded 30 assists, Hajek had 19 digs, Baylyn Johnson had 14 digs and Alharithy tallied six block assists with two solo blocks.
For the Bears (5-3, 1-1), Alissa Weinkoetz had 10 kills, Kylie Welch eight and Anna Niehaus five.
Iowa Central will now prepare for the Kirkwood Tournament on Friday in Cedar Rapids. They will face defending national champion and No. 5 Johnson County at 2 p.m. with a rematch against second-ranked Parkland to follow.