Aug. 30, 2005

The Northeastern Junior College volleyball team had a little good and a little bad in their first action of the season Saturday. The Plainswomen hosted the South Sub Region Tournament at Jackson Edwards Arena and ended with a 3-2 record, one horrifying loss and a good feeling.

The horrifying loss came in their second game of the day. Otero upset the Plainswomen 28-30, 30-22, 15-11. Northeastern had trouble passing the ball and broke down in last two games after taking the first.

"The big thing against Otero was serve-receive," said Northeastern coach Marci Henry. "That had to be the worst passing game we have ever played."

Northeastern recovered, though. After losing a three-game match to rival Western Nebraska - 30-22, 28-30, 15-11 - the Plainswomen came back to rout Trinidad 30-15, 30-15, 17-15 and McCook 30-12, 30-12, 15-4.

Western Nebraska won the tournament, but the Plainswomen notched a victory by getting stronger as the marathon day went on.

Northeastern Junior College freshman setter Cidney Leg (5) and sophomore middle hitter Ashley Kauffman (14) can't quite stop this kill from Trinidad. The Plainswomen went on to win the match easily and posted a 3-2 record for the South Sub-region tournament.

"The day was really productive after losing to Otero," Henry said. "Taking a game from Western felt good."

Middle hitter Ashley Murphy led the Plainswomen in kills on the day with 36. Sophomore outside hitter Janie Elkins was next with 31 and freshman outside hitter Ashley Kauffman had a solid debut with 29.

Freshman Cidney Legg was the setter for most of the day and was a pleasant surprise, dishing 79 assists while forging a good on-court relationship with her teammates. "She did a good job," Henry said. "She got a lot of balls to our outside hitters. We've always been such a middle-dominated team. Our middles still have a lot of respect and that just opens it up for the outside."

Kauffman was one of the beneficiaries of that.

"After Otero we were happy with the way we played," she said.

Perhaps the most valuable player for the Plainswomen was sophomore captain Lindsey Wilson.

Normally an outside hitter, Wilson played libero, or defensive specialist, for most of the day. She had 34 digs.

"(Henry) has been putting me there off and on," Wilson said, "So I knew it was a possibility. Our chemistry got better as the day went on.

"We progressed a lot today."

Northeastern's next game will be Wednesday when North Platte comes to Jackson Edwards Arena