Oct. 24, 2006

By Anthony Arroyo Journal-Advocate sports reporter

STERLING -- What seemed to be a slow start for the No. 16 Plainswomen turned into a healthy victory against the Lady Indians of McCook (Neb.) Community College Monday night.

NJC was victorious in straight sets, 30-19, 30-12, 30-12, to raise their record to 34-6 on the year with two regular season games to play.

"That first game should not have been as close as it was," head coach Marci Henry said of the game in whole. "Out of their first 14 points, 11 of them were from our errors. We pulled away and won comfortably, but we started out slow."

Slow would definitely describe the tempo the Plainswomen displayed, compared to games two and three. McCook was able to take advantage of some of the mistakes, hang around when Northeastern only had a 17-13 advantage midway through the first game. But their is a reason why they are ranked nationally.

After a couple timeouts, Henry's team finished up on a 13-6 run to close out game one with the win.

"We weren't putting in the effort that we should have been," sophomore Erin Holbrook said. "It's hard sometime to start off strong when we play a team like McCook, knowing we can beat them."

The second game of three was a complete turnaround. The Plainswomen jumped out to leads such as 9-3, 14-5 and 24-10, before taking the 30-12 victory.

The Lady Indians had no answer for their problems with serve-receive, with NJC recording eight of their 13 aces recorded in the second game alone.

Tremendous serving, as well as consistent passing and attacking, was the story in game three, dominating the game.

"Huge parts of volleyball is serving and serve-receive," sophomore Ashley Kauffman said, who had eight kills and five digs on the evening. "So when we are able to serve aggressively against teams, it disrupts their passing, which take them out of all their offense, that is when we are at our best."

Monday night, freshmen Addi Radke and Thais Hollerbach each had nine kills to pace the balance offensive strike for the Plainswomen. Tamy Leipelt added eight. Freshman Jenny Andresen had 13 digs at the libero position to lead all in that category.

Sophomore Isabela Lachowski had 8 total blocks, two solo, and the two-setter offense, consisted of sophomore Brittany Palmer and freshman Brittany Palmer, had 24 and 15 assists respectably.

So the stage has been set for this Wednesday. Northeastern, ranked 16th coming into this week, now have a 34-6 record. Western Nebraska Community College, ranked No. 1 in the nation, will have a 49-1 record heading into what fans hope to be a collision at the Bank of Colorado Event Center.

"We are feeling really good, real confident," Kauffman said about the big game.

The Plainswomen hope to pack the arena on Operation: White Out night. Here is the deal, bring a white shirt and admission will be cut in half. Come out and watch Northeastern make the strong attempt to upset the top dog in the nation.

The last time NJC defeated the Lady Cougars was back during the 2004 season where the Plainswomen defeated them two games to one during a Subway Invite tournament. Western Nebraska currently hold a seven match winning streak against the Plainswomen and come into town with a 39-match winning streak. They have been ranked No. 1 for five weeks straight.

"We are excited," Henry said. "Two really good teams going head to head, you never know what the outcome will be."

Match play is set to begin Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Anthony Arroyo can be reached at 522-1990, Ext. 232 or by e-mail: aarroyo@journal-advocate.com

--end--

Anthony Arroyo Sports Reporter 504 N. Third Street Box 1272 Sterling, C0 80751 aarroyo@journal-advocate.com 970-522-1990 ext. 232