Knights drop two on final day of McCook Community College Invitational

McCook, Neb. – Knights volleyball fall in a pair of games, 3-1, on the second day of the McCook Community College Invitational inside the Peter and Dolores Graff Events Center on Saturday.

"This is not how we expected to start our season," said head coach Alexa McCall. "We are trying to find the right combination and if we clean up the errors, we will be successful."

Highland 3 North Platte 1

Fatima Gomez and Jaelyn Dicke led the way with 10 kills, while EmiLee Walnofer tallied 26 digs against the Scotties.

Highland opened a 10-5 advantage in the early stages of set one. North Platte narrowed the margin to three moments later, but the Scotties used a long run to halt the chances of the comeback and take the opening set.

North Platte answered in set two despite a strong start by Highland. A 5-0 run was erased by the Knights as they evened the score at five. North Platte continued to carry the momentum as they held a 21-17 edge late in the set.

Highland responded with a 4-0 run to even the score as teams continued to battle it out. Even at 25, Dicke leapt from the back row on an offensive attack to put the Knights out front. On a long rally Gomez received the ball from Aubrey Grant and bested the block to give North Platte their first set win of the season.

The Scotties flexed their strength in sets three and four to close out the match.

Otero 3 North Platte 1

Zoe Maher led the way with 13 kills on 23 attacks, while Grant tallied 27 assists in game two against the Rattlers of Otero Junior College.

North Platte came out strong in the opening set taking an early 7-3 lead. The Rattlers evened the score at eight, before a quick 5-1 run pushed Otero out front. North Platte continued to fight and narrowed the margin to one late in the set, but Otero found their rhythm to seal set one.

Knights opened the second set on fire as they jumped out to a 7-0 lead behind kills from Maher and Nya Lual. The Rattlers battled back to knot the game up at 10, before the Knights went on a run to stretch their lead to four. Otero responded late by cutting the deficit to one, but a kill and block from Lual helped North Platte prevail in set two.

A pair of service aces from Grant pushed the Knights out front early in the third set. The Rattlers broke up the momentum and battled back to knot the game up at eight. Otero continued to roll in the set extending their lead to six, before eventually earning the set win.

A strong opening fourth set helped North Platte stretch their lead to 10-5 on a kill by Lual. Otero broke up the run and slowly chipped away at the deficit until eventually knotting the game up at 17. North Platte would be the first to reach 23, but a late four-point run helped secure the match for the Rattlers.

North Platte will head to Lincoln to take on Nebraska Wesleyan University for a scrimmage game on Monday. First serve is set for 4:30 p.m. inside Snyder Arena.