The North Platte Community College Lady Knights (4-0) volleyball team continued their winning ways Saturday morning as they defeated the Eastern Wyoming Lady Lancers in three straight sets (25-19, 25-12, 25-12). The Lady Knights then defeated the Colby Community College Lady Trojans in highly contested five set battle (25-22, 25-27, 26-24, 20-25, 15-9).
The Lady Knights jumped ahead early and cruised to a 25-19 win in their opening set of the day. The second and third sets were much of the same as the Lady Knights won both 25-12. Sandrina Hallahan led the team in kills with 13 while Kylie Wroot chipped in 8. Laura Beckman had 15 assists and Joli Hopping had 12. Shannon Liewer led the Lady Knights with 14 digs and Samantha Kennedy paced the team with 3 blocks.
“I thought we played really good defense,” said head coach Sally Thalken. “We played very aggressive at the net. I thought the key to the game was that we controlled the net. We will have to come ready to play against Colby.”
In the second game of the day and fourth of the tournament, the Lady Knights emerged victorious over the Lady Trojans. In the first set the Lady Knights pulled out a 25-22 victory. The Lady Trojans responded by winning the second set 25-27. The third set again was back and forth before Sandrina Hallahan had a kill and Sabrina Hallahan dinked one over for the 26-24 victory. Colby fought right back with a 20-25 win in the fourth set.
The fourth set saw the Lady Knights jump out to an early 5-1 lead and they never looked back en route to a 15-9 fifth set victory. The Lady Trojans cut the deficit to 7-6 before the Lady Knights scored six straight points before closing the game out. Samantha Byrn led the Lady Knights with 16 kills while Sam Kennedy (11), Kyle Wroot (10) and Sabrina Hallahan (10) were all in double figures. Joli Hopping had 28 assists and Laura Beckman had 19. Shannon Liewer led the team with 25 digs.
“I think every coach wants to open up their season 4-0,” said coach Thalken. “Did I think we could? I thought we were young but talented. This gives our kids a ton of confidence and even more excitement for the rest of the season. I am very proud of our kids.”
“I thought we played pretty good for our first game of the year,” said sophomore Laura Beckman. “Our defense was good; we played scrappy and talked. We got down and didn’t stop fighting and came back strong.
Final tournament standings were Northeastern Junior College 4-0, North Platte Community College 4-0, Colby Community College 2-2, Williston State College 1-3, Sheridan College 1-3 and Eastern Wyoming College 0-4. An All-Tournament team will be named on Monday. Click here for all scores, standing and all-tournament team: Subway Invite Tournament Home
The Lady Knights continue their season Wednesday August 28 as they travel to Seward to take on Concordia University JV at 7:30 p.m. You can listen to game both on the airwaves on ESPN Radio 1410 and online at www.northplattepost.com. Robert Lovell will be there on the call.