Knights Volleyball to host Region IX Championship Game
The North Platte Community College Knights volleyball team will host the National Junior College Athletic Association Region IX Championship Game at 3 p.m. Saturday in the McDonald-Belton Gymnasium.
"We are excited that we get to host the Region Championship Game," said NPCC Head Volleyball Coach Alexa McCall. "It puts some pressure on our regular season games, but ultimately allows us to play on our home floor, in front of the great fans that we have."
The Knights will take on the winner of the opening round of the Region IX Tournament, which will be played between Central Community College and Southeast Community College at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Columbus.
NPCC enters championship play as the No.1 seed with a 17-14 overall record, 3-3 conference record and 3-1 record in Region IX. Central Community College is second in the lineup and Southeast Community College is third.
Central brings to the table 17-17 overall, 3-3 conference and 3-1 Region IX records. Southeast is 9-23 overall, 0-6 in conference play and 0-4 in regional standings.
North Platte is leading the region this season with 10.57 kills per set and is second in hitting percentages with 0.141 – just behind Central's 0.164. NPCC also leads in assists per set with 9.97 and is second with blocks per set at 1.58. Central has 1.62. Additionally, the Knights have the most serving aces per set with 2.08.
Individual leaders for NPCC include Kim Krise, of Briggsdale, Colo., who ranks first in the region with 3.01 kills per set. Her teammate, Morgan Ramsey, of Bartlett, is right behind her in second place with 2.82 kills per set.
Katy Bartell, of Eustis, is second in digs per set with 3.88 - following Central's Chloe Odbert with 4.63. NPCC's Allie Schneider is second in assists per set with 8.15, ahead of Central's 8.95 posted by Kamryn Chohon.
For the Knights, Madi Neely, of Broken Bow, is leading total ace serves with 46. Her teammate, Avery Johnson, of Hayes Center, is third for blocks per set with 0.74, and Neely is fourth in that division with 0.71. First is Central's Rachel Otten with 0.98 blocks per set, and second is Southeast's Emily Miller with 0.75.
"We have our work cut out for us, regardless of who wins on Wednesday," McCall said. "We have the talent and the skills to win, we just have to work hard and for each other. I believe that if we can serve well and be able to get out of serve receive without allowing teams to go on runs, we are a hard team to stop. We are excited for this point in our season and ready to play on our home floor one last time this year."
Those unable to attend the game in person can view a livestream at npccknights.com.