The North Platte Community College Lady Knights (12-4) volleyball team defeated the No. 6 Central Community College Lady Raiders (14-4) on Thursday night in five sets (15-25, 28-26, 25-22, 19-25, 15-13). The win was a pivotal win for both the Region IX Division number one seed in the post-season tournament and in the race for a Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference crown.
The Lady Raiders started out the night with the first run of the match as they opened up an early 0-4 lead that forced the Lady Knights into an early timeout. The Lady Knights responded by cutting the score to 7-8 but could never get any closer the rest of the way. The closest the Knights would come was at 14-17. The Lady Raiders then scored seven straight points before winning the first set 25-15.
The second set was a reversal of the first set as the Lady Knights were the team to race out to an early 5-1 advantage. The Lady Knights would maintain a little cushion until the Lady Raiders were able to tie the set at 12 apiece forcing a North Platte timeout. The sides would trade points back and forth before Columbus went on a 0-4 run to take a 17-22 lead. The Lady Knights would answer with a 4-0 run of their own. The Lady Raiders and Lady Knights alternated set point opportunities before the Lady Knights strung together three points to win the second set 28-26 on a Sandrina Hallahan kill.
The Lady Knights would capitalize on the momentum they gained at the end of the previous set in the third as they raced out to early leads of 6-1 and 8-2 forcing Columbus to call a timeout. The Lady Knights would stretch their lead throughout the match at scores of 12-6, 15-7, 18-11 and 20-12. The Lady Raiders would then score six straight points to cut the deficit to 21-18. The Lady Knights would then score two straight points which the Lady Raiders answered by scoring three straight of their own. The two teams would side out the rest of the set to give the third set victory to North Platte on a kill by Samantha Byrn at a score of 25-22.
The fourth set started out with the two teams trading points before the Lady Raiders went on a 0-5 run to take a 2-7 lead that forced the Lady Knights into a timeout. Columbus would maintain a four point lead in the early stages of the set before the Lady Knights cut the deficit to one at 14-15 that forced the Lady Raiders into a timeout. The Lady Raiders would maintain a lead the rest of the set to win 19-25 and force a deciding fifth set.
The Lady Raiders would draw first blood in the fifth set as they scored the first four points before the Lady Knights could get on the board. The Lady Knights would score four of the next five points to make the score 4-5. The Lady Raiders were the first to eight as the teams switched sides with Columbus leading 6-8. The Lady Knights would even the score at nine points apiece and then take an 11-9 that forced the Lady Raiders to take a timeout. The Lady Knights would then score two of the next three points to force another Lady Raider timeout. The Lady Raiders scored the next three points to tie the deciding set at 13 and force a Lady Knights timeout. Kylie Wroot put down a kill to give the Lady Knights a set and game point. Samantha Byrn ended the game with a kill to give the Lady Knights a 15-13 fifth set victory.
“The game was nerve wracking, exciting and a lot of fun,” said freshman Samantha Byrn. “The gym was loud and everyone played hard. I had to go over the block to get that last kill.”
The Lady Knights were led by Sabrina Hallahan with 12 kills on the night. Samantha Kennedy had a double-double with 10 kills and 10 blocks. Joli Hopping led the Lady Knights with 25 assists and Shannon Liewer had 35 digs to lead the team.
“We beat a great team tonight,” said head coach Sally Thalken. “Our kids played with a lot of heart tonight. I was very pleased with the way we battled especially in the second set when we battled back to win and in the fifth set when we got down 2-6 and battled back into the game.”
The Lady Knights take the weekend off before hosting Hastings College JV next Tuesday, Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. The Lady Knights then travel to Region IX Division II and NCCAC foe Southeast Community College on Thursday, Sept. 26. for a game at 4 p.m.