Over the last few seasons, Heartland volleyball has played multiple close matches with nearby rival Illinois Central College. The Hawks and Cougars played twice this season, with ICC narrowly defeating the Hawks both times in five sets. The two squads met once again, this time in a consolation bracket contest on Friday morning at Alliant Energy PowerHouse Arena in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Despite a late comeback effort by No. 10-seeded Heartland, the Cougars were ultimately too much for the Hawks in a 3-1 defeat.
 
ICC was off and running in the opening set, as the tournament's eighth overall seed won set one 25-18. After the Hawks built an early 7-5 advantage on an Olivia Pippin service ace, the Cougars rattled off 10 of the next 15 points of the frame to take a 15-10 advantage. ICC would continue to put on the pressure, eventually leading 19-13 and 23-16 before taking the set.
 
Kills by Olivia Pippin, Emma Harper and Mairen Mannon ignited the Hawks to a 7-3 advantage in the second set. The Hawks eventually built the lead to eight at 17-9, before ICC came storming back to narrow the deficit to one at 20-19. Back-to-back attack errors by the Cougars boosted the Hawks to a 22-19 lead, but six straight points by ICC gave the Cougars the win in set two to take a 2-0 advantage in the match.
 
The Hawks still had some fight left in them with their season on the line, as they won the third set 25-23 in a close affair. After both teams traded points for much of the set, Chloe Janssen gave the Hawks a 22-20 lead with two straight kills before an attack error by the Cougars. ICC would tie the set at 22-22 and 23-23 before a Gracie Sanderson kill and another ICC attack error kept the Hawks alive with the win in set three.
 
The fourth and final set of the match was much of the same. After ICC took a 15-13 advantage, Heartland responded with six straight points behind two kills and two service aces by Pippin to make it 19-15 in favor of the Hawks. Another kill by Janssen and a bad set by the Cougars pushed the Hawks in front 23-21 late in the set to break a 21-21 tie, but ICC scored five of the last six points to win the set 26-24 and advance in the consolation bracket.
 
Mannon finished with nine kills for the Hawks, with Sanderson and Pippin each having eight kills. Pippin also added 16 assists and 23 digs. Heartland concludes its season with a 31-11 overall record.