A milestone season for Morton College ended in the Region 4 District B women's volleyball championship match November 9th in Madison as No. 16 Sauk Valley punched its ticket to the NJCAA national tournament with a 3-0 (25-14, 25-18, 25-12) win over the No. 25 Panthers.
It was Morton College's first appearance in the Region 4 title contest since 2001 and just the Panthers' second in program history.
Along the way, the Panthers won a program-record 28 games and posted an all-time winning percentage of .824. Morton College also received its first national ranking, checking at No. 25 in the November 3rd Week 10 poll. Morton College's 14 straight wins to open the season was another program best.
The Panthers also ran the table in the Skyway, going 6-0 to capture the program's first conference crown since 1981. Sophomore
Nina Jasiecka earned Player of the Year honors and Steve Dowjotas picked up Coach of the Year accolades as the Panthers beat Moraine Valley for the first time since 2001.
Of Morton College's six losses, two came against No. 1 Parkland. The Panthers also fell to No. 4 Cowley County, No. 5 Kansas City Kansas and No. 16 Sauk Valley.
Men's basketball
The Panthers went 0-3 at the Mesa Thunderbird Classic, falling to Chandler-Gilbert 87-57, Glendale 94-78 and the tournament hosts 94-72. Morton College starts 1-3 for the
second straight year, but it's not time to push the panic button.
Morton College righted the ship last year, going 21-11 and claiming the program's first Skyway Conference crown since 2019.
Women's basketball
The Panthers gave coach John Bongiorno his career win at Morton College with a 65-56 home triumph over Daley November 8th behind double-figure scoring from
Charity Love (17 points), Niema Adams (16) and
Catrina Sanders (14).
Sanders is Morton College's leading scorer after three contests, averaging 18.3 points per game. She's had a pair of 20-point games to boot.
Alexandria O'Hara is close to averaging a double-double with 7.7 points and 9.7 rebounds per contest. She hit double figures for rebounds in Morton College's first two contests against Illinois Valley and Kennedy-King.
