After falling to Kirkwood to open the NJCAA DII National Tournament on Wednesday, the Heartland volleyball team rebounded with a 3-1 victory over No. 18-seedeed Walters State College on Thursday in a consolation match at Alliant Energy PowerHouse Arena in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
 
The Hawks began the match with a 14-12 lead in set one before the Senators eventually tied the set at 17-17. The two teams continued to trade points until the Senators ultimately scored four out of the last five points in the frame to take the opening set.
 
Heartland would get its revenge in the second set. The Hawks were in control for much of the set before Walters State eventually tied the set at 15-15. Three attack errors by the Senators and a kill by Mairen Mannon put the Hawks back in front 19-15, and they never looked back from there. After building a 24-20 advantage, the Senators scored three straight points before an Olivia Pippin kill tied the match at 1-1.
 
Set three was a little easier for the Hawks, as they started out hot with leads of 12-7, 15-10 and 18-13. The No. 10-seeded Hawks scored five of the last six points of the set behind three attack errors by the Senators and kills by Cece Carr and Holly McDonald to take a 2-1 match lead.
 
In the fourth and final set, both squads exchanged points in-tune to a 10-10 tie in the early going. From there, blocks by Pippin, McDonald and Emma Harper and kills by Harper, Pippin and Emily Adams boosted the Hawks in front at 16-10. The Senators still had some fight left in them, eventually narrowing the deficit to three at 23-20. A kill by Julianne Kielion and a block from Pippin and McDonald once again sealed the set and the match for the Hawks.
 
Pippin finished with 11 kills, 19 assists and nine digs to lead the Hawks. Mannon contributed 10 kills, while Kennedy Conrad supplied 22 digs.
 
The Hawks will advance to the next round of the consolation bracket for an 11:00 am face-off Friday against Illinois Central College. The ninth-seeded Cougars edged the Hawks in a thrilling District Final on Nov. 4.