Season ends in Columbus for Knights Volleyball

The season came to a close for the North Platte Community College volleyball team Saturday. The Knights fell 3-1 to No. 1 seed Central Community College in the NJCAA Region IX Championship in Columbus.

The Knights claimed the lead early in the first set with NPCC's Morgan Ramsey scoring the first kill of the match, Tessa Metschke going on a run and Tyrah Woods notching two aces. 

The Raiders started to gain momentum midway through, but it wasn't enough to catch up to the Knights who took advantage of holes in Central's defense and secured the opening set win, 25-17. 

The second set was a complete reversal with the Raiders jumping out to an early lead. The Knights' offense wasn't enough to overtake the Raiders, as a seven-point deficit only continued to grow from there. Central evened the match with a 25-13 second set victory.  

The Knights trailed early in the opening moments of the third set. Kills by Ramsey and Avah Steggall temporarily broke Central's momentum, but it wasn't enough as the Raiders sealed set three, 25-12. 

In the final set, Central jumped out to a five-point lead. An ace by Amauri Browning, helped them momentarily decrease the deficit, but the Raiders forged ahead - going on a run that ultimately secured their win 25-14. 

Ramsey had a total of 12 kills, two aces and seven digs in the game. Woods tallied five kills in addition to her two aces. 

Vanessa Wood and Emily Johnson each added another four kills, and Johnson put up four blocks. Whitney Chintala went for 16 digs. Metschke had 12 digs and two aces, and Avah Steggall contributed 22 assists. 

"We played really well in the first set," said NPCC Volleyball head coach Alexa McCall. "Then we just made too many errors and couldn't find momentum. This is never how you want the year to end, but I'm proud of our sophomores and what they have given to our program." 

The Raiders will now host the Northwest Plains District Playoff Nov. 4-5.