NCHS falls in home opener

Cory Griffith
Posted 9/2/20

LUSK – The Niobrara County High School volleyball team began its season with a home quad last Friday as Sundance and Moorcroft came to face the Lady Tigers and Pine Bluffs.

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NCHS falls in home opener

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LUSK – The Niobrara County High School volleyball team began its season with a home quad last Friday as Sundance and Moorcroft came to face the Lady Tigers and Pine Bluffs.

All four have reasonable expectations of a trip to state, and aside from conference play, will see potential rematches at regionals.

The Sundance Lady Bulldogs are the defending 2A state champs, and didn’t lose much from last year’s squad. They took an early first set lead and went on to the 25-16 win. The second set was back and forth early on before the visitors went on a 13-3 run to take command. Many unforced errors by NCHS helped Sundance to the 25-13 second set win. The Lady Bulldogs took the lead right away in the third set and kept Lusk at arms-reach in the 25-18 win.

NCHS TEAM STATS: 57/63 serving, 90 pct; 9 kills/69 atts; assists 8; stuff blocks 5; 72/97 digs.

NCHS PLAYER STATS: Serving – Riley Shaw 9/9, Lily Krueger 12/13, Danni Larson 10/11, Anna Richardson 9/10. Digs – Richardson 12, Courtney Rowley 12, Evelyn DesEnfants 12.

A few hours later, Moorcroft and Lusk squared off and the first set was tight all the way. The teams were knotted at six and 12 before the Lady Wolves went on a 7-3 run. An effective timeout pulled NCHS into a 22-all tie, yet the visitors escaped with the 25-22 victory.

In the second set, Moorcroft went up 9-4 before the Lady Tigers got within two a few moments later. But it wasn’t enough, as the Lady Wolves regained composure for the 25-19 win. The third set almost mirrored the second as NCHS came up short by a 25-17 score.

NCHS TEAM STATS: 47/58 serving; 5 kills/47 atts; assists 4; stuff blocks 10; 27/32 digs.

NCHS PLAYER STATS: Serving – Rowley 11/11, Shaw 9/9. Stuff blocks – Renae Marker 5.

The JV lost to Sundance 21-15 and 21-9 and also fell to Moorcroft in three sets (21-17, 15-21 and 2-15).

The Lady Tigers have a busy week ahead with a trip to Crawford, Neb., on Thursday (5 and 6 p.m.). Guernsey-Sunrise comes to Tiger Gym Friday with the first of three matches starting at 4 p.m. Wright visits on Saturday for JV at 5 p.m. before the varsity at 6.