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 897^th 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.

The North Platte Community College Lady Knights (17-12) volleyball team finished the Jimmy John Invite with a 0-4 record after losing two more on Saturday. The Lady Knights opened up the day with the Division I #8 Iowa Western Community College Lady Reivers (31-3) who they lost to in straight sets (22-25, 10-25, 16-25). The Lady Knights would then square off with the Kansas City Kansas Community College Lady Blue Devils who they would also fell to in straight sets (16-25, 20-25, 22-25).

The Lady Knights gave the Lady Reivers all they could handle in the opening set of their game this morning as the set would not be decided until the final point as Iowa Western would hang on to win 22-25. The Lady Reivers would then take control of the match as they won the second set 10-25 and the third set 16-25.

Samantha Kennedy led the Lady Knights with six kills in the match and Joli Hopping led the team with 17 assists. Shannon Liewer and Samantha Byrn each had eight digs for the Lady Knights.

“I thought our kids played really hard in the first set,” said head coach Sally Thalken. “Iowa Western is very big and very good. They regrouped and raised the bar.”

In the second game of the day for the Lady Knights they started out slowly as they would fall to the Lady Blue Devils in the opening set 16-25. The Lady Knights would go toe-to-toe with Kansas City Kansas in the second set before falling 20-25 and then would push the Lady Blue Devils to the limit before falling in the decisive third set 22-25.

The Lady Knights were led by Samantha Byrn who finished with seven kills in the game. Shannon Liewer paced the Lady Knights with 16 digs and Joli Hopping had 12 assists. Samantha Kennedy and Sandrina Hallahan each had three blocks for North Platte.

“We played some very good teams this weekend,” said coach Thalken. “We knew coming in it would be a challenge but we welcomed the opportunity. We are at a critical point in our season. We have a short turnaround as we are again on the road and play Eastern Wyoming on Monday.”

The Lady Knights remain on the road the rest of the season as they travel to Torrington, Wyo. on Monday October 14 to face Eastern Wyoming College at 7 p.m. and to Columbus on Thursday October 17 to face Central Community College at 7 p.m. The game Monday with Eastern Wyoming College will be broadcast live on ESPN 1410.

The North Platte Community College Lady Knights (17-10) volleyball team fell twice on Friday afternoon on the first day of the Jimmy John Invite in Columbus. The Lady Knights played their third straight five set match this week against the #20 Bismarck State College (28-4) Lady Mystics (28-4). The Lady Knights would fall after taking a 2-1 lead (25-22, 21-25, 25-22, 17-25, 10-15). The Lady Knights would immediately return to the court and lose in straight sets to the top ranked Cowley County Community College (22-3) Lady Tigers (16-25, 18-25, 12-25).

The Lady Knights would start out the opening game of the day well as they would win the opening set 25-22 over the Lady Mystics. Bismarck would then even the game at one set apiece as they would win the second set 21-25. North Platte would then take a 2-1 lead as they would go on to win the third set. The teams continued the pattern of alternating set wins as the Lady Mystics would win the fourth set 17-25. Bismarck would upset the pattern and take the fifth set and the game as they won 10-15.

The Lady Knights were led by Samantha Kennedy who finished with 12 kills and four blocks. Kylie Wroot (11), Sabrina Hallahan (11) and Sandrina Hallahan (10) were in double figures for kills. Joli Hopping led the Lady Knights with 25 assists and Laura Beckman wasn’t far behind with 23. Shannon Liewer paced the Lady Knights with 19 digs.

The Lady Knights would get no rest as next up was Division II #1 Cowley County Community College. The Lady Tigers would take the first set 16-25. Cowley County would continue their strong play as they won the second set 18-25 and would end the game with a 12-25 third set victory.

Samantha Kennedy and Sandrina Hallahan would both have seven kills to lead the Lady Knights. Shannon Liewer would have 19 digs to pace the Lady Knights while Joli Hopping had 18 to go along with her team leading 14 assists.

The Lady Knights return to action tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. as they face Division I #8 Iowa Western Community College and then face Kansas City Kansas Community College at 1 p.m. to finish out the invite.

The Lady Knights remain on the road the rest of the season as they travel to Torrington, Wyo. on Monday October 14 to face Eastern Wyoming College at 7 p.m. and to Columbus on Thursday October 17 to face Central Community College at 7 p.m. The game against Eastern Wyoming can be heard on ESPN Radio 1410.

After a two hour and thirty minute five set match on Monday, the North Platte Community College Lady Knights (17-8) volleyball team followed it up with a two hour eleven minute five set match on Wednesday as they defeated the Southeast Lady Storm (9-12) to finish the season 10-1 at home (24-26, 25-11, 20-25, 25-20, 15-13).

The match was the last home contest of the season and marked the final home game for the five sophomores in the Lady Knights program. The sophomores include Laura Beckman of Julesburg, Colo., Sabrina Hallahan of Brush, Colo., Sandrina Hallahan of Brush, Colo., Jacee Kershaw of Culbertson and Shannon Liewer of Imperial.

The first set would start out with neither team being able to gain any advantage as the teams exchanged side outs. The Lady Storm would open up a 15-17 lead and force the Lady Knights into a timeout. The Lady Knights would even the game back up and the two teams would exchange leads until the Lady Storm again pulled ahead 21-23 forcing another Lady Knights timeout. The Lady Knights would again even the score at 23 before the Lady Storm earned a game point. The Lady Knights extended the set by blocking a kill attempt. The Lady Storm would score the final two points to take the first set 24-26

The second set would open with the Lady Storm scoring the first point of the set. It wouldn’t last long as the Lady Knights raced out to an 8-4 lead that forced a Southeast timeout. The Lady Knights would then extend their lead and take control of the match at 15-8. The Lady Knights would continue to extend their lead to 24-9. The Lady Storm scored two more points but it was not enough as the Lady Knights evened the match at one set apiece with a 25-11 victory.

The third set was similar to the first set as neither team could gain an advantage early in the set. The teams would trade side outs and leads before the Lady Storm would earn the first two point lead of the night at 18-20. Southeast would extend the lead to 18-23 before the Lady Knights would score two straight. It was too little too late as the Lady Storm would take the third set 20-25.

The Lady Knights started strong in the fourth set as they opened up a 7-3 lead that forced the Lady Storm into an early timeout. The lead would prove to be insurmountable as the Lady Knights would extend their lead and not allow the Lady Storm to get any closer than four points at 22-18 and 23-19 on their way to a 25-20 fourth set victory

The deciding fifth set would be back and forth as neither team could gain a large advantage. The teams switched sides of the court as the Lady Knights held the slimmest of leads at 8-7. After being tied at 9-9 the Lady Knights would score three straight points to take a 12-9. The Lady Storm would score the next two before the teams traded points to leave the score at 13-12. The Lady Knights would earn a set and game point at 14-12 forcing a Southeast timeout. The Lady Storm would score a point to extend the match but a spike by Sandrina Hallahan would win the set and game for the Knights 15-13.

“I wanted to win so bad since it was our last home game,” said Sandrina Hallahan. “I put all of my effort into that last hit.”

The Lady Knights were led by Samantha Byrn who finished with 13 kills. Sandrina Hallahan and Kylie Wroot were also in double figures with 11 and Samantha Kennedy was as well with 10. Joli Hopping had 26 assists and Laura Beckman had 24 for the Lady Knights. Shannon Liewer led the team with 20 digs.

“I am so proud of our sophomores and everything they have brought to this program,” said head coach Sally Thalken. “I was happy to win their last home game but we need to find a way to start matches out faster.”

The Lady Knights return to action this Friday and Saturday as they travel to Columbus for the Jimmy John Invite. The Knights will play their first game at 1 p.m. on Friday against #20 Bismarck State College and will play again at 5 p.m. against Division I #8 Iowa Western. The competition remains stiff as Saturday the Lady Knights face #1 Cowley County Community College at11 a.m. and Kansas City Kansas Community College at 3 p.m.

The North Platte Community College Lady Knights (16-8) volleyball team fell Monday night to the Divison I #20 Northeastern Junior College Plainswomen (16-5) in a five set thriller that lasted two hours and thirty minutes. The Lady Knights would drop the first two sets before winning the third and fourth set before finally falling in the fifth set (25-27, 23-25, 25-23, 25-20, 9-15).

The Lady Knights would open up the first set of the night fast as they would jump out to a 10-6 lead over the Plainswomen. The Plainswomen would battle back to take a 16-18 lead. The Lady Knights would then score outscore the Plainswomen to tie the game at 22-22 and force a NJC timeout. After the Plainsmen scored a point, the Lady Knights would score two of their own to earn the first set point forcing another Plainswomen timeout. The teams would exchange points as the game again became tied at 25-25. The Lady Plainswomen were able to earn a side out and then had an ace serve to close out the first set 25-27.

At the start of the second set the Plainswomen would continue to hold the momentum as they jumped out to a three point lead. The Plainswomen would maintain the lead throughout the early stages of the set with their largest lead at 9-13. The Lady Knights would string together a few points of their own to tie the game at 14-14 and then take their first lead of the game at 16-15.

The teams would trade side outs before NJC would tie the game at 18-18 and then take a lead at 18-20 to force a timeout by North Platte. The Lady Knights would tie the set at 22-22 to set up another exciting finish. NJC would get a side out and score another point to earn a set point opportunity and force a timeout by the Lady Knights. Samantha Kennedy would slam home a spike before the Plainswomen would end the set 23-25.

The Plainswomen would start the third set by opening up a 4-9 lead on the Lady Knights and forcing North Platte into a timeout. The Lady Knights would slowly chip away at the lead and would eventually tie the game at 12-12. The Lady Knights and Plainswomen would trade points and leads throughout the middle stages of the set before North Platte was able to race out to a 22-18 advantage.

The Plainswomen would score two straight points and then the Lady Knights would score two straight to earn a set point at 24-22. The Plainswomen would then score three straight to force a North Platte timeout at 24-23. Samantha Kennedy would end the third set for the Lady Knights as she blocked NJC’s spike attempt to win 25-23.

The Lady Knights and Plainswomen would start the fourth set exchanging points before the Lady Knights were able to open up a lead with the largest being 20-15. The Plainswomen would then score three straight points prompting a timeout from North Platte. The Lady Knights and Plainswomen would trade the next four points before the Lady Knights would score the final three points of the set to win 25-22 to force a decisive fifth set.

The Plainswomen would draw first blood in the fifth set as they scored the first three points. The Lady Knights would respond with three straight points before NJC answered with four straight to take a 3-7 lead. The Lady Knights would cut the lead to 7-8 and force the Plainswomen to take a timeout. The Plainswomen would then score the next five points to take a 7-13 lead. The two teams would exchange the final four points of the set to give the Plainswomen the victory 9-15.

Samantha Kennedy led the Lady Knights with 19 kills and Sandrina Hallahan had 14. Shannon Liewer had 25 digs and Joli Hopping had 31 assists to pace the Lady Knights.

“It was a great night (with the Pink Out),” said head coach Sally Thalken. “Our kids played really hard and it was a good volleyball game tonight. In the end we weren’t as aggressive as we needed to be in the fifth set.”

On Wednesday the Lady Knights will honor their five sophomore; Sabrina Hallahan of Brush, Colo., Shannon Liewer of Imperial, Sandrina Hallahan of Brush, Colo., Jacee Kershaw of Culbertson and Laura Beckman of Julesburg, Colo. as they take on Southeast Community College. The game will start at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio 1410. The Lady Knights defeated the Lady Storm in four sets earlier this year.

The North Platte Community College Lady Knights (16-7) volleyball team overcame a slow start on Thursdaynight to defeat he Northeast Community College Lady Hawks (11-11) in a four set battles (28-30, 25-22, 25-20, 25-21). All four games were very competitive, however the Lady Knights were able to finish the second, third and fourth sets strong to claim victory.

The first set was the Lady Hawks get out to a fast start as they jumped out to a 0-3 lead before the Lady Knights could score their first point. The Lady Knights would cut the lead to 3-4. The match would then go back and forth with neither team gaining more than a two point advantage as both teams traded side outs.

The Lady Hawks would take a 16-18 lead before the Lady Knights would go on a 6-0 run gain a 22-18 advantage and forced a timeout. The Lady Knights would earn three set points as they took a 24-21 lead. However the Lady Hawks would not go quietly and battled back to tie the game at 24. The teams would trade side outs until the Lady Hawks would take the first set 28-30.

The third set was back and forth early as neither team could gain an advantage until the Lady Knights took the lead 9-6. The Lady Knights would stretch the lead to six at 17-11. Once again the Lady Hawks would not go quietly and would tie the game at 19. The Lady Knights then had two blocks to earn points and were able to force a timeout from Northeast after leading 23-21. The Lady Knights would even the game at one game apiece after taking the second set 25-22.

The Lady Knights and Lady Hawks would battle back and forth at the start of the third set as neither team could gain more than a one point advantage until the Knights scored three points in a row to take a 13-10 lead. The slim margin would be enough as the Lady Knights finished off the third set with a 25-20 victory.

The Lady Hawks would start the fourth set strong as they jumped out to an early 1-5 lead.  The Lady Hawks would maintain their early lead as they led the Lady Knights 5-11 before North Platte would start to chip away until they were able to tie the game at 17. The Lady Knights would continue to ride the momentum as they opened up a two point lead at 20-18. The Lady Knights would extend the lead to close out the set and the game 25-21.

“We didn’t start out very well,” said sophomore Sabrina Hallahan. “I thought we fought back and overcame some adversity, especially in that fourth set to come back to win.”

The Lady Knights were paced by Samantha Kennedy who finished with 12 kills and six blocks, Sandrina Hallahan who finished with 10 kills and six blocks and Sabrina Hallahan who finished with nine kills and 19 digs. Joli Hopping led the way with 24 assists and Laura Beckman had 18. Shannon Liewer led the Lady Knights with 30 digs.

“Northeast has a salty team,” said head coach Sally Thalken. “It shows character from our girls to come back from the 11-17 deficit (in the fourth set). I don’t like putting ourselves in that position, but I was glad we were able to come back.”

The Lady Knights remain at home next week in their final two home games of the season as they host Northeastern Junior College on Monday at and Southeast Community College on Wednesday October 9. On Monday the Lady Knights are welcoming students and families from Osgood School and Lake School with free admission. The Lady Knights have worked with student from these schools as part of their outreach program. Also on Monday, it will be a “Pink Out” in support of Breast Cancer Awareness. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio 1410.

On Wednesday the Lady Knights will honor their five sophomore; Sabrina Hallahan of Brush, Colo., Shannon Liewer of Imperial, Sandrina Hallahan of Brush, Colo., Jacee Kershaw of Culbertson and Laura Beckman of Julesburg, Colo. The game will start at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio 1410.