Sept. 18, 2006

The NJC volleyball team defeated No. 2 Cowley County en route to winning all three games in the Garden City Invitational Tournament Sept. 15 and 16.

Coach Marci Henry's club needed just nine games to beat Cowley County, New Mexico Military and Garden City.

The Plainswomen improved to 13-3 on the season.

"We passed extremely well and played great defense," Henry said. "Our hitters did a great job with four (players) hitting over .300 for the tournament. If we continue to pass and play defense as well as we did this weekend, we will challenge any team in the nation."

The Plainswomen defeated defending Division II runner up, Cowley County; 30-24, 30-25 and 30-25. Addi Radke and Thais Hollerbach led NJC with 15 kills each.

Hollerbach and Radke were equally impressive on defense against Cowley County. Hollerbach contributed 20 digs while Radke chipped in with 14.

"With some great defense and outside hitting, we were able to take control of the games and win," Henry said.

NJC jumped on New Mexico Military early, winning the first two games; 30-15 and 30-23. The Plainswomen came away with a tough, 30-27, win in game three to take the match.

"We played extremely well in game one," Henry said. "We had a let down in games two and three and we had to battle back from a four-point deficit in both games. We showed a lot of character to fight back and come away with a straight set victory."

Jenny Andresen led the Plainswomen on defense against NMM with 32 digs. Hollerbach added 22 digs and seven kills.

NJC had little trouble with host Garden City in its third match of the tournament. The Plainswomen dominated all three games, winning; 30-21, 30-10 and 30-20.

Strong serving and a solid outside attack proved too much for Garden City in a match Henry described as "a strong showing passing and defensively."

Hollerbach notched a game-high 19 kills while adding 10 digs to the winning effort. Radke recorded nine kills and eight digs and posted a hitting percentage of .538 for the match. Andresen locked down the defense with a game-high 16 digs.