Knights Volleyball splits back-to-back games in Columbus tourney

The North Platte Community College volleyball team opened the first day of the Ramada Inn Classic in Columbus with one win and one loss. 

The Knights took on Kansas City Kansas Community College first – defeating the Blue Devils in five sets. The scores were 25-16, 23-25, 18-25, 25-23 and 15-11. 

Morgan Ramsey led the attack with 19 kills and three aces. Tyrah Woods came through with another eight kills, and Karley Spillane added six. 

Tessa Metschke contributed five aces and 22 digs while Whitney Chintala went for 16 digs. Emily Johnson posted five blocks, and Avah Steggall had 31 assists. 

"I was really pleased with the win in the first game," said NPCC Volleyball Head Coach Alexa McCall. "We played solid defense and were able to get them out of system. We also had a good game serving." 

The second match was against Cowley County Community College. The Knights fell to the Tigers in three sets: 10-25, 15-25 and 21-25. 

That time around, it was Vanessa Wood who led with eight kills, followed by Ramsey with seven. Chintala tallied 15 digs, and Metschke had 10. Steggall recorded 16 assists. 

"Cowley is a good team, and I thought we finally slowed them down in set three," McCall said. "We just have to figure out how to do that earlier." 

The tournament will continue through Saturday. NPCC will battle Dakota College at Bottineau at 1 p.m. before facing Neosho County Community College at 3 p.m.