Oct. 2, 2007

The Northeastern Junior College Plainswomen volleyball team finished their busy week with a 5-2 mark after two victories in McCook, Neb., and a 2-2 record at a tough Hutchinson Invitational over the weekend.

Northeastern continues to roll this season, as they bring their record to 28-9 overall entering the month of October. The Plainswomen were ranked #17 entering the weekend and could potentially rise with a win against nationally ranked Missouri State University - West Plains.

The first game of the week featured a pretty simple evening with Eastern Wyoming College on Tuesday, Sept. 25. NJC was victorious 30-15, 30-19, 30-16.

Thais Hollerbach continues to have a special sophomore campaign as she let the team with 15 kills and an amazing 12 service aces. Fellow sophomore Addi Radke had 12 kills and two stuff blocks on the night and tied for a team-high 10 digs with freshman libero Suyan Leipelt. Sophomore setter Jessica Tjaden had 34 assists.

Two nights later, Northeastern went toe to toe with McCook Junior College and Hastings JV. NJC had an even easier time with McCook, on their way to a 30-10, 30-18, 30-13 three-game set.

Three women hit double-figures in kills during the match. Hollerbach had 14 to lead all attackers. Sophomore Tamy Leipelt had 12 kills on just one error, and Radke finished with 11. As a team, they needed just 35 digs to do the job, led with Radke's eight, following S. Leipelt and Hollerbach with six apiece. Tjaden cashed in another 30-plus assist night, going for 33 against McCook.

Later in the day, NJC took on Hastings JV in a two-game set and won, 30-21 and 30-28. Tamy Leipelt and Hollerbach managed to reach double-digits in kills in just two games, finishing the match with 11 and 10 respectably. Thais also added seven digs to lead the team. Radke had six kills and three of the team's five service aces.

Next, it was time for the Plainswomen take their nine-match winning streak to Hutchinson, Kan. for a five-match tournament. Yet, another tournament that featured tough teams from around the nation.

Northeastern battled first with Jefferson College and took the match in four games, 30-25, 30-32, 30-24, 30-20. Radke led the way in this contest for the Plainswomen, going for a game-high 21 kills and 16 digs. T. Leipelt had 18 kills, nine digs and two aces, while Hollerbach had 12 kills, nine digs and one ace.

Alexis Eliades and Brittany Palmer each had three service aces. As a team they tallied 14. S. Leipelt had 18 digs and Tjaden finished with 51 assists.

Now with their winning streak reaching 10 matches, NJC finally hit a wall when they played ranked No. 8 Barton County Community College. The Plainswomen would presume to drop the first two games before falling in four, 18-30, 25-30, 30-27, 17-30.

Eliades stepped up and did some big things in limited action from Hollerbach, who had three kills and eight digs in two games played. Alexis finished the contest tied with a team-high 10 kills in the match.

Radke and T. Leipelt finished with double-doubles, both going for 10 kills and 11 digs. S. Leipelt had an excellent match serving, shooting over seven service aces and also led the team defensively with 15 digs. Jessica Tjaden had 29 assists.

NJC wanted to keep their heads high and focus on their next opponent, ranked No. 11 Missouri State University - West Plains. The Plainswomen showed some incredible heart and dedication to showcase a come-from-behind victory, 30-26, 27-30, 31-29, 27-30, 17-15.

Northeastern was up two games to one with a chance to close things out, but Missouri held tough and tied things going into the tiebreaker. NJC was actually down by two points at 13-11 and that was when head coach Marci Henry called one final time out. The women used a 6-2 run to finish off their opponent for the big win.

Hollerbach came back with a huge game overall, ending the match with 21 kills, 14 digs and two aces. T. Leipelt had 20 kills of her own, and had eight digs and three aces. Radke finished with 15 kills and 13 digs and three aces.

Hollerbach came back with a huge game overall, ending the match with 21 kills, 14 digs and two aces. T. Leipelt had 20 kills of her own, and had eight digs and three aces. Radke finished with 15 kills and 13 digs and three aces.

S. Leipelt had 10 digs and 2 aces, while Tjaden had a team-high four assists to go along with her 56 assists.

After a huge comeback win like that, the girls might have been drained heading into their last match-up with the host team, Hutchinson. Regardless of what it was, Hutchinson is a good team, ranked No. 16 in the nation. They would drop the first game of the match, but would beat the Plainswomen 28-30, 30-12, 30-25, 30-22. "It was really tough having to play back to back against very good competition, we found ourselves on the court for about four hours and forty minutes which makes it hard. Also, it was the first match of the day for Hutch (Hutchinson), so they had more in the tank than we did. It would definitely be a different match if we were fresh," commented Coach Rob Haley.

T. Leipelt and Hollerbach each had 12 kills to lead the team offensively. Radke finished with eight kills. Tjaden had a very good match overall, going for 34 assists, 15 digs, four kills and four aces. S. Leipelt finished things off with 13 digs.

Once again, Northeastern is 28-9 after a successful week and will finally return home for a few matches. NJC will play three-straight home matches from Thursday, Oct. 4 to Saturday, Oct. 6.

First for the Plainswomen will be a match with Otero Junior College on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Story courtesy of the Journal Advocate