The North Platte Community College Lady Knights (18-12) volleyball team outlasted the Eastern Wyoming Lady Lancers (7-20) in five sets on Monday night (20-25, 25-15, 25-13, 23-25, 15-10). It was the Lady Knights fourth five set match in their last seven games after having four previously. The win is head coach Sally Thalken’s 897th career win, all at North Platte.
The Lady Knights started out slow in the first set as they fell 20-25 to the Lady Lancers. North Platte would respond with very convincing second and third set victories to take a 2-1 lead after 25-15 and 25-13 victories. In the fourth set the Lady Knights were not able to close the door on the Lady Lancers and were defeated 23-25.
In the fifth and deciding set the Lady Knights would play aggressive and race out to an 8-3 lead as the teams would switch sides of the floor. The Lady Lancers would score the next two points to cut into the Lady Knights lead but were unable to get any closer. North Platte would hold its largest lead of the fifth set at 14-8 and after two points by the Lady Lancers were able to earn the fifth set and game victory with a service error by Eastern Wyoming.
Samantha Kennedy would have a strong performance as she finished with a season high 21 kills and three blocks. Sandrina Hallahan would also finish in double figures with 11 kills. Shannon Liewer would lead the Lady Knights in digs as she finished with 26. Joli Hopping (23) and Laura Beckman (18) would be the leading assist women.
“Our kids played hard tonight,” said head coach Sally Thalken. “We really needed this win! It was a tough first set but we rebounded nicely in the second and third set and played with a lot of confidence. We played aggressive in the fifth set to get the victory!”
The Lady Knights remain on the road the rest of the season and travel to Columbus on Thursday October 17 to face the Central Community College Lady Raiders at 7 p.m. The Lady Knights defeated the Lady Raiders earlier this year at home in five sets when the Lady Raiders were ranked #6 in Division II.