Sports – Page 439 – North Platte Post Archive

Nebraska Footballs Now Carry Traceable Microchips

Posted on September 6, 2014

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska has joined a handful of other university football teams that are using microchip-equipped game balls to help ensure they can’t be faked or counterfeited in the collectibles market.

Big Game USA, a manufacturer of college game balls, has a deal with Prova Group Inc. to install the chips in balls at Big Game’s football factory in Dallas.

Prova Group said it uses chips, smartphones and cloud technologies to protect fans and consumers from counterfeit goods.

The chips, dubbed gametag, can track the life of a football, record its history and prove authenticity.

Without the technology, collectible footballs must be authenticated through an expensive and time-consuming analysis by experts and third-party opinion.

Huskers Sweep Colonels for Unbeaten Weekend

Posted on September 6, 2014

Dayton, Ohio – The 12th-ranked Nebraska volleyball team finished an unbeaten weekend at the Flyer-Raider Invitational with a 3-0 sweep (25-12, 25-23, 25-7) over Eastern Kentucky on Saturday afternoon at the Frericks Center.

The Big Red went 3-0 at the tournament to improve to 3-2 on the season. In their final match, the Huskers swept aside a 6-1 Eastern Kentucky team that had won five matches in a row and was also unbeaten at the tournament with sweeps of Wright State and IPFW.

Kelsey Fien led the Huskers with 14 kills, while Kadie Rolfzen had 11 kills and hit a career-best .667. Mary Pollmiller had four kills, 29 assists, seven digs and three blocks, while Amber Rolfzen tallied five kills and five digs. Annika Albrecht served up three aces in a row in the third set to blow it open. Melanie Keil had three kills and five blocks.

The Huskers hit .398 as a team, while Eastern Kentucky hit just .053. The Huskers outblocked the Colonels 8-2 and outdug them 42-29. NU’s 38 assists also bested EKU’s 22. Justine Wong-Orantes added seven assists for the Big Red.

Nebraska cruised in set one to a 25-12 victory. The Huskers broke a 5-5 tie with a 20-7 outburst to wrap up the set. Kadie Rolfzen had five kills on six attacks in the opening frame, and Fien had four as the duo combined for nine of NU’s 11 kills in the set. Pollmiller sparked NU with three blocks and eight assists. The Huskers hit .385 as a team and held EKU to a .000 hitting percentage.

The second set was much more competitive, although it didn’t look like it would be at the beginning. NU jumped in front 5-0 with a kill and ace from Pollmiller. After the Huskers took a 9-2 lead, Eastern Kentucky inched back into the set with four straight points when it was 15-10 to pull within 15-14. But Amber Rolfzen gave the Huskers a two-point cushion with a kill, and back-to-back EKU errors gave NU an 18-15 advantage. Later in the set, Fien notched back-to-back kills for a 23-18 Husker lead. But the Huskers weren’t out of danger just yet, as the Colonels scored consecutive points to cut it to 23-20 and force a Husker timeout. Keil connected down the right side out of the timeout to force set point, but the Huskers made it interesting with two mental errors that cut their lead to one at 24-23. However, Fien and Keil thwarted an EKU attack at the middle of the net to finish the set at 25-23.

A flurry of three aces by Albrecht and three straight kills by Kadie Rolfzen boosted the Huskers to a 13-1 start to set three, and they never let up from there. NU rolled to a 25-7 win in the set, its largest margin of victory this season. The Huskers held two opponents to single-digit points in 25-point sets twice on Saturday after doing so three times all of last year.

The Huskers are back in action at the Devaney Center next Friday when they host the Ameritas Players Challenge. NU will face Denver on Friday at 7 p.m. and Colgate on Saturday at 7 p.m. The tournament begins with Akron vs. Colgate on Friday at 4:30 p.m. Other matches on Saturday are Colgate vs. Denver at 11 a.m. and Akron vs. Denver at 4:30 p.m.

Lady Bulldogs Pick Up Pair of Wins over Ranked Teams

Posted on September 6, 2014September 7, 2014

The North Platte Lady Bulldogs volleyball team rose early Saturday morning and made the trip to Lincoln Southwest High School and came away with two upset victories over Lincoln North Star and Lincoln Southwest.

The ninth-ranked Lady Dawgs drew No. 8 North Star in the first match of the quad. North Platte jumped out to an early lead against the Navigators. Led by senior Kaitlynn Harvey’s five first-set kills North Platte won the first set 25-19. Star juniors Olivia Nicholson and Allison Kuenle took over in the second set leading the Lady Dawgs to a 25-16 win and taking the best-of-three match in straight sets. Nicholson finished with eight kills and four aces. Kuenle had seven kills, including six in the second set. She also added two aces while serving.

North Star ended North Platte’s season in 2013 with a 3-1 win in the district finals. Harvey enjoyed getting a little revenge on the Navigators.

“It was awesome,” Harvey said.

Coach Laura Miller echoed those statements.

“I was kind of like that pit [of losing last year] is gone,” Miller said. “That was pretty awesome.”

North Platte played No. 4 Lincoln Southwest in the second match of the day. The Lady Dawgs once again took the first set with a 25-22 win over the Silver Hawks. Nicholson and Kuenle led the way once again with seven kills each in the set. North Platte jumped out to a three point lead in the second set, but Lincoln Southwest came storming back and won the set 25-18. The Dawgs very easily could have hung their heads and accepted a loss to the fourth-ranked team, but instead they displayed great confidence and didn’t back down as they dominated the third set 25-16 for the 2-1 match win. Miller said there is a reason for the resilience her team showed.

“They’ve all gained a lot of confidence from last season,” Miller said. “I think we just started off at a higher level [this year] than we normally do so our confidence level is definitely there and that’s exciting.”

Nicholson finished the match with 22 kills, Kuenle followed with 13 kills, including the exclamation point, a resounding blast from the left side to finish it. Junior setter Alex Neff had three aces in the match and helped lead a stout North Platte defense.

North Platte showed great hustle in both matches and gave everything they had on every ball. Harvey said that’s a great way to play.

“It was really fun today,” she said. “I’m really glad we played well.”

Miller said the hustle displayed by North Platte was key to getting the two wins.

“With that kind of effort we kind of wear the other team down a little bit,” she said. “They’re kind of like ‘what do we got to do to get the ball on the ground’ and they finally just give up or make a mistake.”

With the two wins North Platte improves to 4-0 on the season, including wins over three ranked teams, No. 8 Lincoln North Star, No. 4 Lincoln Southwest and C1 No. 3 Ogallala. Miller said the other teams in the state have noticed the Bulldogs.

“We will definitely have a target on our back,” Miller said. “I’m going to welcome that and I think the kids will too.”

The Lady Bulldogs next game is on Thursday, September 11 at Grand Island Northwest. The Vikings are ranked fourth in Class B. First serve of the varsity match is scheduled for 7:00 PM and the game can be heard on ESPN Radio 1410 with the pregame show starting at approximately 6:45.

Abdullah’s TD Lets No. 19 Neb Shake Cowboys 31-24

Posted on September 6, 2014

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Ameer Abdullah’s jaw-dropping 58-yard touchdown after a short pass from Tommy Armstrong Jr. broke a tie with 20 seconds left and allowed No. 19 Nebraska to beat FCS McNeese State 31-24 on Saturday.

McNeese State erased a 10-point deficit to tie Nebraska (2-0) at 24-all with 4:21 to play. The Huskers’ winning possession started with 1:14 to play, and they were facing third-and-6 when Abdullah made the play of his career.

After catching a pass short of the first-down marker, he first made McNeese State’s Bo Brown miss. Then he rammed into a pack of three Cowboys’ defenders, bounced off Aaron Sam and then zoomed past Brent Spikes on his way to the end zone.

Armstrong passed for 242 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 131 yards and a TD.

Daniel Sams ran for 74 yards for McNeese State (0-1), and Tyler Bolfing passed for 101.

Huskers Get Past Bakersfield

Posted on September 6, 2014

Dayton, Ohio – The No. 12 Nebraska volleyball team beat Bakersfield 3-1 (25-16, 25-8, 22-25, 25-19) in the first of two matches on Saturday at the Flyer-Raider Invitational at the Frericks Center.

Kelsey Fien followed up her 12-kill performance on Friday with a career-high 17 kills against Bakersfield. Kadie Rolfzen had a double-double with 15 kills and 15 digs. Melanie Keil set a career high with eight kills on 12 attacks for a career-best .667 hitting percentage. Meghan Haggerty came up big at the net for the Huskers with six kills and nine blocks. Mary Pollmiller finished with 46 assists, and Justine Wong-Orantes had 15 digs to match her season best.

The Huskers improved to 2-2 overall and 2-0 at the tournament. Bakersfield fell to 2-4 overall. Molly O’Hagan led the Roadrunners with 11 kills.

NU totaled a season-high 14 blocks to just four for Bakersfield. The Huskers had a 60-51 advantage in digs but committed seven service errors to CSUB’s four.

Similar to Friday, the Huskers got off to a slow start. Bakersfield went up 7-5 early in the first set courtesy of four early errors by NU. But the Huskers settled in and went up 10-9 on a swing by Fien. That started a run where the Huskers took eight of nine rallies, keyed by two Kadie Rolfzen kills. Bakersfield got no closer than five the rest of the set, as the Huskers pulled away to the 25-16 win.

In set two, NU bolted out to a 4-1 lead and never looked back. The Huskers strung together 10 straight points to go up 17-4 with Kadie Rolfzen serving up three consecutive aces to break the backs of the Roadrunners. Redshirt freshman Kira Larson recorded her first career kill to end the set at 25-8. The Huskers’ margin of victory equaled their largest set victory since a 25-4 third-set win over Louisiana-Monroe in the season opener last season.

But Bakersfield came back in set three and took leads of 9-5 and 15-11. NU rallied to tie it at 15-15 with two kills coming from Kadie Rolfzen. The Huskers then took an 18-16 lead, but Bakersfield fought back with a 5-0 run to go up 21-18. The Huskers didn’t help themselves with a service error and two attacking errors during the run. NU got it back to within 21-20 on back-to-back kills by Fien and Kadie Rolfzen, but Bakersfield answered with three points to push the lead to 24-20. Back-to-back Husker points were too little too late, though, as CSUB finished a 25-22 win on a kill by Sydney Haynes.

CSUB carried its momentum into the fourth set, taking an 11-7 lead to force a Husker timeout. The Roadrunners maintained the four-point lead at 14-10, but the Huskers put together a 5-0 run to go up 15-14, aided by two Kadie Rolfzen kills and two double-stuff blocks from Haggerty combined with Amber Rolfzen and Kadie Rolfzen. With the set tied at 18-18, the Huskers finally gained some separation with a double-stuff block by Cecilia Hall and Pollmiller and a kill by Hall to the vacant back row for a 20-18 lead. The Roadrunners made it 20-19 following a timeout, but Fien blasted to the floor for a 21-19 Husker lead. Hall and Fien finished off the match with back-to-back kills.

The Huskers finish the tournament against Eastern Kentucky at 2 p.m. (CT).

Curry’s 6 3s Send US to Basketball Worlds Quarters

Posted on September 6, 2014

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Stephen Curry made six 3-pointers and scored 20 points, leading the U.S. national team into the quarterfinals of the Basketball World Cup with an 86-63 victory over Mexico on Saturday.

The Golden State Warriors All-Star was 7 of 10 from the field and 6 of 9 behind the arc, continuing to move a dismal start to the tournament for one of the game’s best shooters.

Warriors teammate Klay Thompson added 15 points for the Americans, who advance to a game Tuesday against either Slovenia or Dominican Republic, who they are a combined 3-0 against this summer. The U.S. beat both easily in exhibition play, then handled the Dominicans again during the group stage in Bilbao.

Special Teams Helps Lead North Platte to Win over Lincoln High

Posted on September 6, 2014

The North Platte Bulldogs punt team came up with a fumble recovery on the Lincoln High 29-yard line with just over three minutes left, leading to the game-winning touchdown in the Dawgs 28-21 win.

North Platte jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on its opening drive when senior quarterback Shane Mauch carried the ball into the endzone from inside the 1-yard line. Mauch would add two more 1-yard touchdown runs in the game to lead North Platte.

Lincoln High tied the game on its ensuing drive highlighted by a 56-yard run from Marcus Haynes. The drive was capped off by a two yard touchdown run by Tyren Baker.

The second quarter began with North Platte fumbling the kick return and giving the Links the ball at the NP 18-yard line. The North Platte defense stepped up and got a big stop on third down by tackling Haynes four yards in the backfield. Dawgs junior linebacker Ricky Sandoval led the charge. Lincoln High was forced to kick a field goal and Jose Perez-Blanco was true on the 33-yard attempt to give the Links a 10-7 lead.

North Platte’s next drive stalled near midfield and they were forced to punt. The Dawgs defense forced a Lincoln High three-and-out and North Platte took over at their own 49-yard line. The Dawgs then took the lead on the second one-yard touchdown run from Mauch, 14-10. North Platte took the four-point lead into halftime.

The third quarter began with North Platte being forced to punt and Mauch pinned the Links deep as they ball was touched down at the Lincoln High 3-yard line. The Links though were undeterred as they drove down the field and Perez-Blanco kicked a 36-yard field goal to make it 14-13.

North Platte turned the ball over on downs as the fourth quarter started, but Lincoln gave it back quickly with a fumble on the third play of its drive. The Dawgs took over at the Lincoln High 33-yard line and a six-play drive was capped by the third one-yard Mauch touchdown run.

Lincoln was given a gift on its next drive. The North Platte defense had the Links pinned deep but a roughing-the-kicker penalty on fourth-and-19 gave Lincoln the automatic first down. Three plays later quarterback Anthony Evans connected with Jamie Davis for a 61-yard touchdown pass. The Links went for two and running back Terry Jones converted it for Lincoln to tie the game at 21 with just under five minutes to go.

The Dawgs were forced to punt on their ensuing drive, but the Links returned the favor with a roughing-the-kicker penalty and also as the ball hit the ground it hit a Lincoln player and North Platte recovered it. The Dawgs declined the penalty and took over with 3:06 left at the Lincoln High 29-yard line. Five plays later Mauch threw a bullet that threaded the needle to junior wide receiver Grant Pavelka for a 14-yard touchdown pass to give North Platte the 28-21 lead with 53 seconds left.

The Dawgs defense held Lincoln High for the final minute and North Platte improved to 2-0 on the season.

North Platte finished with 239 yards of total offense and gave up 302 yards to Lincoln High. The Links were able to pound the ball up the middle in the first half and had 116 yards rushing after the first two quarters. The Dawgs’ defense tightened up and only allowed 55 rushing yards in the second half.

Mauch finished the game 12/19 for 117 yards passing with a touchdown. He also rushed for 81 yards and three touchdowns. Pavelka had five receptions for 50 yards, including the game-winning touchdown.

North Platte’s next game is Friday, September 12 at home against rival Kearney. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 pm at Bauer Field and the game can be heard on ESPN Radio 1410 with the pregame show starting at 6:30 pm.

Rockies Shut Out Padres 3-0

Posted on September 6, 2014

DENVER (AP) — Tyler Matzek pitched a three-hitter for his first career shutout, Nolan Arenado and Drew Stubbs homered, and the Colorado Rockies beat San Diego 3-0 Friday night.

It was the third straight victory for Matzek (5-9) since snapping a five-game losing streak. The Padres managed only one extra-base hit against Matzek — a leadoff double by Abraham Almonte in the ninth that went over the head of left fielder Corey Dickerson.

He struck out six, including three in the third around Rymer Liriano’s single, the only other hit to reach the outfield.

Matzek was the first Rockies pitcher to go the distance this season. He improved to 5-0 with a 0.97 ERA in five starts in which he’s pitched at least seven innings.

The Padres have lost three in a row.

Huskers Stunned by Sooners in Double Overtime

Posted on September 6, 2014

Lincoln, Neb. – The Nebraska soccer team (3-2) raced out to an early 1-0 lead, but No. 20 Oklahoma responded with a second-half goal before Madison Kinzer’s game winner in double overtime sealed a 2-1 Sooner victory at the Nebraska Soccer Field on Friday night.

Junior Katie Kraeutner scored a tap-in for the Huskers in the sixth minute off an assist from Hannah Dittmar to put NU on the board first. The goal marked Kraeutner’s first of the season as she played 103 minutes for the game.

The Huskers took 11 shots, six of which were on goal. Oklahoma compiled 13 shots, five of which were on goal. NU goalkeeper Kelly Schatz earned three saves over 110 minutes.

In the 71st minute, Oklahoma scored its first goal as Ayana O’Neal knocked it in off an assist from Laura Rayfield. The score stood in a 1-1 tie after 90 minutes and stayed that way after the first overtime.

Nebraska controlled on offense at the start of the second overtime, taking four consecutive corner kicks, but failed to convert. The Sooners took their first lead of the match with the game winner by Kinzer in the 107th minute. The goal, which was assisted by Tori Bowman and Shiloh Price, marked Kinzer’s first of the season.

The Huskers return to the Nebraska Soccer Field on Sunday at 1 p.m., against North Dakota. The match will be streamed on the Big Ten Digital Network.

Huskers Sweep Dayton for First Win of Season

Posted on September 6, 2014

Dayton, Ohio – The No. 12 Nebraska volleyball team swept host Dayton 3-0 (29-27, 25-14, 25-23) in its opening match at the Flyer-Raider Invitational on Friday night at the Frericks Center.

Kadie Rolfzen got untracked for the Huskers, posting a match-high 15 kills after totaling six through the first two matches of the season. Junior Kelsey Fien added 12 kills of her own, one off her career high, and the duo combined to hit .373 on the night.

The Huskers improved to 1-2 on the young season heading into matches tomorrow against Bakersfield and Easten Kentucky. Dayton fell to 2-2. Alaina Turner and Jill Loiars led the Flyers with 11 kills each.

Coming off an outing with just one kill against Stanford last Sunday, Kadie Rolfzen showed her All-American form with 15 kills on 28 swings for a .429 hitting percentage. She also had three blocks and eight digs on the night. Rolfzen’s 15 kills matched the most she’s had since 20 against Michigan on Nov. 16 last season.

Fien came off the bench and added a huge spark for the second straight match. After leading NU with nine kills last time out against Stanford, the junior outside hitter finished one kill shy of her career-high 13, which she set at Auburn last season.

Senior setter Mary Pollmiller had 35 assists and a season-high 11 digs to pace the Huskers. Justine Wong-Orantes added 10 digs. The Huskers had eight total blocks with Meghan Haggerty leading the way with a career-best four.

Dayton quickly jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the opening set, but the Huskers fought back with three straight points aided by a Kadie Rolfzen kill. The Huskers tied the set for the first time at 7-7 on an errant set by the Flyers. NU took its first lead at 11-10 on a wide hit by the Flyers. The Huskers went up by two at 14-12 and again at 16-14, but allowed Dayton to tie the set each time. Three straight kills by Kadie Rolfzen gave the Big Red a 20-17 lead, but Dayton scored five straight to go up 22-20. However, following a timeout the Huskers gathered themselves and back-to-back kills by Fien evened things up at 22-22. After Dayton briefly went ahead 23-22, Fien struck again and a Dayton attacking error gave NU its first set point at 24-23. The teams traded rallies to 28-27 before Fien finished off the set with a swing down the line on the left side for the 29-27 Husker win.

Kadie Rolfzen had six kills in the first set alone, matching her total for last weekend’s matches. Her twin, Amber Rolfzen, had three kills of her own and an ace. Fien added four kills, all coming after the Huskers trailed 22-20.

In set two, the Huskers wasted no time in taking control. Fien blasted three kills to give NU a 3-1 lead and Amber Rolfzen added a kill and Annika Albrecht recorded her second ace of the match for a 5-1 Husker advantage.The closest Dayton would get the rest of the way was 6-3, but the Huskers put an end to that with three straight points on back-to-back kills by Kadie Rolfzen and a Dayton attacking error to go up 9-3. The Huskers never let their foot off the gas the rest of the set and built the advantage to 11 by the end of the set for a 25-14 win.

In the second set, Fien had five kills, while Kadie Rolfzen had four and Amber Rolfzen had three. Pollmiller posted two kills on dumps and added 13 assists. The Huskers posted 14 digs in the set and they came from seven different Huskers.

The Huskers picked up where they left off to begin set three, jumping out to a 5-1 lead. But trailing 7-2, Dayton won five of six points to claw within 8-7. Kadie Rolfzen hammered down the line to put NU up 9-7, but the Flyers came all the way back to take an 11-10 lead on a Big Red attacking error. With the set tied at 12-12, Albrecht served up her third ace of the night for a 13-12 lead, and an attacking error by Dayton put NU up two, 14-12. Dayton hung around within 16-15, but Haggerty sent one to the floor, and Justine Wong-Orantes produced a one-handed dig that led to a double-stuff block from Haggerty and Pollmiller to force a Dayton timeout with the Huskers ahead 18-15. Dayton battled back from a 24-20 deficit to make it 24-22 and force a Husker timeout, but Kadie Rolfzen fittingly ended the match with her 15th kill of the night.

The Huskers finish play at the Flyer-Raider Invitational with back-to-back games on Saturday. At 10 a.m. (CT) the Huskers will take the court with Bakersfield, which fell to IPFW 3-0 earlier on Friday. Then at 2 p.m. (CT) NU squares off against Eastern Kentucky, which swept Wright State in its tournament opener on Friday to move to 5-1 on the season.