Oct. 18, 2007

The NJC Plainswomen began, what will be a long four day road trip, with a three game win in North Platte, Nebraska, taking down the Lady Knights 30-23, 30-27, 30-28.

NJC jumped out early in game one with strong play at the net and good defense behind the block. "We worked on defense in practice because we knew we would be facing a much improved offensive attack from North Platte", commented Coach Marci Henry. The Knights did play better offensively but were plagued by service errors allowing the Plainswomen to take control of the game, and run off to a seven point victory.

The second and third games saw the Knights commit fewer errors serving, but the Plainswomen ramped up their play defensively behind the play of libero, Thais Hollerbach. Hollerbach had 13 digs in the second game and 4 in game three before leaving the game with a wrist injury she sustained diving and landing awkwardly on her arm. "We are definitely concerned with Thais' injury. She did take a while to get to her feet and her arm was quite tender. We elected to not play her the rest of the match and we will have to see how she does tomorrow to see if she will be available for the rest of the road trip", said Assistant Coach Rob Haley. "She is a tough kid but the important thing is making sure she is ok. We are pretty deep and we have some freshman that can step in if needed."

NJC had a four point lead at 20-16 before the injury to Thais. The lead quickly was cut to two at 20-18. Both teams battled back and forth and the game was knotted at 22. NJC came out of a timeout playing aggressively and pushed the lead to 28-24 before a couple key kills by the Knights, and the lead was only two at 28-26. NJC went up 29-27 on a Radke kill giving the Plainswomen a match point. A perfect dump by setter Jessica Tjaden appeared to give NJC the victory, but a lift violation was called giving NPCC hope. NJC Coach, Marci Henry called her final timeout in an attempt to "ice" the Lady Knights server, and her plan worked, as the serve sailed out of bounds, giving NJC the victory, 30-28.

"It was a pretty tight call on Jessica. I thought she dumped the ball well to end the match, but unfortunately the official had a different opinion. Some calls go your way and some don't, it is the nature of the beast. Coming out of the timeout you hate to see a well played match end on a service error, but on the road you take what you get. It is definitely better than being aced", laughed Assistant Coach Rob Haley.

Leading the way defensively for the Plainswomen was Thais Hollerbach, with 16 digs, followed by Suyan Lepeilt with 13. Leading in blocks was Tamy Leipelt with 8 followed by Alexis Eliades 5. Offensively NJC was carried by Addi Radke with 16 kills followed by Tamy with 8 and Suyan with 7 kills.

"We played pretty well tonight against a very good team. North Platte always plays great defense and make you work very hard to earn points. We were very happy to come out and continue to play well on the road. Hopefully we can continue our success as we head down south", said Coach Marci Henry.