ORRICK – It’s been four years since the North Platte volleyball team (4-14) strung together two straight victories before doing so with back-to-back sweeps over Penney (2-16) and Orrick (1-12).
Since 2019, North Platte has also failed to sweep multiple opponents in any season in non-tournament play but that also changed recently. Before taking down Penney on Sept. 21, it had been a rough go for the Lady Panthers who had lost 10 of their last 11 matches – winning four sets and losing 29 sets in that time frame.
Having been swept in its last three matches at the time, North Platte earned the first win in KCI Conference play against Penney after a 0-2 start. The Lady Panthers haven’t lost to the Lady Hornets in over a decade and have won at least 18 straight in the series.
North Platte opened up set one with a 25-13 win and then held Penney to nine points in the second set. The Lady Panthers closed out the match with a tight 25-23 victory to pull off the sweep.
Kinsey Neidfeldt and Kate Richardson both had 10 aces and Kylee Sipes led the team with 14 digs. Richardson also dished out 10 assists and Kayla Humes had five kills.
North Platte used its first sweep in 359 days as momentum, doing the same thing against Orrick on Sept. 26. That match was more competitive as the Lady Panthers won by scores of 25-23, 25-21 and 25-18.
North Platte distributed the ball well with 21 assists as Richardson had five, Quincy Justice had four and both Makenna Cartwright and Neidfeldt had two. Sipes added eight digs and Justice finished with nine aces.
North Platte wasn’t able to keep the winning streak rolling in a matchup with Lawson (11-7-1) on Sept. 28. For the fifth straight matchup with the KCI rival, the Lady Panthers lost by a sweep.
North Platte has now doubled its win total from a year ago and will have a chance to surpass four wins for the first time since 2019. The Lady Panthers will have four more matches before the Class 2 District 16 Tournament, starting with East Buchanan (20-2) on Oct. 5.