Knights Volleyball delivers 3-0 sweep over Highland Scotties

Highland, Kan. –The North Platte Community College Knights Volleyball Team swept the Highland Community College Scotties 3-0 in a hard-fought match on their home court Friday evening. 

NPCC snatched up the lead immediately and held onto it throughout the entire first set. A kill by Emily Johnson put the Knights ahead by five points. A subsequent block by Johnson and Sydney Spillane widened the gap to 14-7. The Scotties attempted a comeback toward the end, but were no match for the Knights' offense, and North Platte cruised to a 25-19 win. 

Hungry for revenge, the Scotties gave the Knights a run for their money in the second set. The frame saw seven ties and four lead changes before North Platte finally pulled ahead 13-11. The Knights continued to widen the gap from that point on, making their way to a 25-18 victory. 

Highland took a three-point lead early on and managed to stay just ahead of North Platte for most of the third set. A series of powerful kills and back-to-back aces by Vanessa Wood helped the Knights temporarily tie the game 17-17. NPCC would tie the game up again, 23-23, 24-24, 25-25 and 26-26 before Highland, faced with a match point, hit the ball out of bounds. North Platte won with a final score of 28-26. 

Wood was the big hitter of the day with 18 kills. Fatima Gomez added nine more. Elsie Ottun and Aubrey Grant recorded 19 and 14 assists, respectively. EmiLee Walnofer went for 19 digs, Wood had 13 and Gomez contributed 10. 

The Knights had 10 blocks as a team and improved to 7-13 on the season. 

"We played with resiliency and did not give up in the last set," said Kylie Wroot, NPCC assistant coach. "We had too many unforced errors and will have to clean those up for tomorrow's games, but we fought through those mistakes for the win. It will be good momentum for the tough games tomorrow." 

The Knights will remain in Kansas for a Saturday triangular hosted by Johnson County Community College. North Platte will take on Kansas City Kansas Community College at 11 a.m. before duking it out with JCCC at 1 p.m.