Messenger file photo: Emily Goodner, a former Manson Northwest Webster star, spikes the ball for Iowa Central earlier this year.

CEDAR RAPIDS — A strong regular season, coupled with a stacked schedule full of ranked teams, helped the Iowa Central volleyball program officially secure an at-large bid to nationals on Wednesday.

The Tritons were one of just four teams added to the field of automatic qualifiers for the NJCAA Div. II Championships, which take place here on Nov. 20-23.

Iowa Central (29-7 overall) will face Johnson County in the second round at 3:30 p.m. this coming Wednesday. Kirkwood also advanced to the field after winning the Region XI championship this past weekend.

“We are beyond excited to get an at-large bid for the national tournament,” ICCC head coach Sara Horn said. “We made a pretty challenging schedule for our players, and they did well enough to be ranked seventh in the last regular season poll. 

“We thought our resume was strong enough to secure a wild-card spot, and I’m glad the committee agreed. It’s an exciting week, and we’re really happy for our players that they get a chance to show that we’re one of the top teams in the country.” 

This marks the fifth consecutive season the Tritons have qualified for the national tournament. They placed fifth last year, seventh in 2022, fourth in ’21 and were a program-best third in 2020.