The North Platte volleyball team picked up its first win over the weekend at the annual KCI Conference Tournament that was held in Hamilton on Saturday, Sept. 7.
The Panthers played two matches going into the tournament versus Northland Christian and Nodaway Valley and fell in both matches 3-0.
Katherine Richardson
North Platte drew Lathrop in its first pool play match and dropped both sets before facing off against rival West Platte. The Panthers played the Jays tough in the second set but couldn’t pull out a win. Against Plattsburg, in the third matchup, the Panthers took both sets into the 20s but lost close games.
Leala Day
The Panthers drew Lathrop again in bracket play and dropped both sets but ended up capturing seventh place with a win over host school Penney. Head Coach Summer Richardson told The Citizen that sophomore Nevada Shaw helped the team gain traction in the first set with a long serving streak and in the second set, senior Kayla Humes delivered a serving streak of more than 10 points.
Kayla Humes
“We have a young varsity team this season with only two seasoned varsity players returning as we graduated six starters last season,” Richardson told The Citizen. “We are excited about the experience we gained over the weekend and plan to put that experience into action as we continue with the season.”
Madison Willoughby
Through the KCI Tournament, Kate Richardson leads the team in kills and assists and The Citizen is told another player to watch is Haylie Davis who leads the team in aces while serving. Richardson said junior Leala Day is performing well after switching from libero to a setter/hitter combo at the net and fans should also keep an eye on sophomore Rylee Perkins who is a middle hitter.
“Our team is talented with different strengths and I am looking forward to seeing them grow stronger and get better with every set this season,” Richardson said.
Blair McHenry
The Blue Jays tied in their two other pool play matches at the KCI Tournament versus Lawson and Plattsburg and came up short in both bracket matches. They lost to Mid-Buch in three sets before losing to Lawson in two sets.
Amber Rutherford
Coming into the KCI Tournament the Jays had played in only one match versus St. Joseph Lafayette and won in three sets 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-19). Leading the way for the Jays were Arianna Nower and Blair McHenry with nine kills each. Gracie Carlson led the team with five aces and 30 assists. Amber Rutherford led the team with 17 digs.
Arianna Nower