The North Platte Community College Lady Knights volleyball team defeated the Central Community College Lady Raiders in four tough sets 22-25,26-24,31-29,25-23.

The Lady Raiders coming into the match were ranked number nine in the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II ratings that were released this afternoon.

In the first set the set was tied at 15 and remained close until Central took a 23-19 lead.  The Lady Knights fought back to cut the Central lead to one at 23-22.  Central was able to get the serve back and finished out the set.

In set two, the Lady Knights were down 7-3, but went on an 8-1 run to take an 11-8 lead.  The Lady Raiders stayed in the match and tied the score up at 22.  The Lady Knights went on to take the set.

With the win in set number two, it was the first set won by the Lady Knights against Central in eight matches dating back to the 2013 season.

In the third set, the Lady Raiders jumped out to a 14-7 lead, but the Lady Knights fought back to take the set 31-29.

The fourth and final set went back and forth.  With the score tied at 14 the Lady Raiders had a 7-1 run to lead 21-15.  The Lady Knights went on their own run to close out the match 25-23.

Lady Knights Head Coach Alexa Hopping said, “We fought really hard and controlled the things we could control. We fixed things from last night and passed really well.

Valerie Most had 19 kills for the Lady Knights.  She also recorded four block assists and two service aces.  The two service aces moves her into the Top 25 in season service aces with 59.

Samantha Morgan contributed 11 kills and six block assists.  Shelby Wolever had 50 set assists to pace the Lady Knights and Megan
Chintala had 20 defensive digs.

The Lady Knights are now 13-18 on the season.

The match was a NJCAA Region IX Division II matchup.  With the win the Lady Knights move to 2-2 in the region.  Central suffered their first loss in the region and are now 2-1.  North Platte is finished in regular season Region IX play and Central will play Southeat.  A Central win would clinch the number one seed for the Lady Raiders and give the Lady Knights the number two seed.  If Southeast would win, all teams would be 2-2 and would go to a tie-breaker to determine the seeds for the tournament.  The tournament will be held in North Platte on October 30-31.

The Lady Knights return home on October 20, to face the Northeastern Junior College Plainswomen on “Sophomore Night”  It will be the final regular season home match.