Sept. 24, 2007

The Northeastern Plainswomen Volleyball team picked up six wins on the weekend, going undefeated in the Wyo/Braska Shootout held in Scottsbluff, NE, and Torrington, WY.

NJC started out slowly against a very good Western Wyoming team, but came out on top in five games, 19-30, 30-23, 26-30, 30-24, and 15-10. The Plainswomen were plagued by numerous errors forcing the momentum to swing on the side of Western. "We really struggled to get things going early and really put ourselves in a hole with some of our mistakes. We hoped to come out aggressive the first match of the tournament, but unfortunately that was not the case", stated Assistant Coach Robby Haley. "We were very fortunate to come out with a five game victory. Statistically we should have never won this match." The Plainswomen were led by Addi Radke with 17 kills, followed by Thais Hollerbach with 14.

Next up for NJC was Miles Community College who was outmatched by the Plainswomen. "Miles is still rebuilding their program only being around since 2005 and adding a new head coach last season, so they were pretty young", stated Haley. NJC rolled to an easy victory, 30-10, 30-10, and 30-21. The team was led by Tami Leipelt's eight kills.

The final match Thursday evening was against Northwest Wyoming College and again the Plainswomen came out with a victory, 30-21, 30-24, and 30-16. Although the scores might appear impressive the play of the Plainswomen was less than impressive to coaches Henry and Haley. "We really felt we could have played with more enthusiasm and drive to finish out the day, but we were a bit passive in the win", said Henry. Again, NJC was led by Addi Radke with 10 kills.

Friday morning brought on yet another tough five game match in which the tide turned many times against a very talented Sheridan College team. The plainswomen again were victorious winning 27-30, 29-31, 30-26, 30-15, and 15-10. "I was extremely disappointed on the way we finished out game 1, giving up six straight points, and then giving up six straight in the start of game 2", stated Henry. "We had our chances to win the first game and let it slip away at the end giving the Generals the victory. It is uncharacteristic of our team to give up a total of 12 straight points. You cannot allow a team to run points on you, especially 12 straight", said Haley

Game 3 the Plainswomen came out tough and fought of f defeat winning by six. In game 4 the lights went on for NJC and the lights went out for the Generals. "I knew after our victory in game three it was over. I could feel the momentum switch and I really felt in game four we would win by a large margin, and we did", said Haley. In game five, Northeastern finished off a very good Sheridan team, winning by five. Thais Hollerbach and Addi Radke both finished the match with 20 kills each.

Eastern Wyoming College and Laramie County Community College were the next opponents NJC would face on Friday.

Eastern Wyoming would play tough only to be overmatched by strong serving and net play. The Plainswomen came out with a three game victory 30-15, 30-27, 30-20. Once again NJC was led by Thais Hollerbach with 13 kills and 8 aces, while Addi Radke added 12 kills.

The late match pitted NJC against Laramie County Community College and NJC proved it's legitimacy as a top ranked program dominating the Golden Eagles 30-13, 30-21, 30-14. The match was never close as LCCC had trouble receiving very aggressive serving by the Plainswomen. Thais Hollerbach recorded a match high 6 aces, five of them coming in the third game. "This match was the turning point of our weekend. We really focused and played with an extreme passion," said Haley.

The final match of the tournament matched up NJC against a very good Casper College team, whom NJC had played only a week earlier. The Plainswomen again demonstrated that passion and desire it had the night before taking it right at the Casper T-Birds. NJC came out on top 30-23, 30-19, 30-23. "We played very well again against one of the top teams in the nation. I was very happy the way we finished up and gained momentum to finish the tournament. I really believe this was a turning point for our team this season", stated Haley.

The Plainswomen will now travel back to Torrington on Tuesday to face the Lancers, followed by a trip to McCook, on Thursday, to match up with McCook and Hastings JV, and continuing on to Hutchinson, KS for the Hutchinson Invitational.

"We will see some great competition this weekend, and I think our team is up to the challenge. Our confidence is growing, and team is really starting to gel and play well together. Hopefully this will continue", said Haley.