Oct. 27, 2004

Just like last season, the Northeastern Junior College (NJC) Plainswomen continue to move up in the national volleyball rankings. After posting two more victories last week, improving to 32-5, NJC is ranked 11th in the nation. Last year the highest ranking for the Plainswomen was 10th.

The most recent win for NJC came Saturday in Rock Springs, Wyo. at Western Wyoming Community College in 4 sets, 33-31, 21-30, 30-24, 30-24. On Thursday at home, the Plainswomen took care of Lamar Community College in straight sets, 30-13, 30-11, 30-8.

That win gave NJC an 8-1 mark in the South Sub-Region, still one game behind Western Nebraska Community College (WNCC). Both teams will meet Thursday in Scottsbluff to determine the South-Sub-Region title and the top seed going into the Region IX Tournament. Back to Thursday's home win over Lamar, sophomore Emily Sakis continued to dominate on offense with 25 kills. The middle hitter connected on 80% of her attacks, which NJC Coach Marci Henry pointed out was "Unheard of." "We played very well," Henry said. "Lamar wasn't able to do a whole lot offensively or defensively against us.

"Emily had a strong hitting game with 25 kills and an .800 hitting percentage. That's just amazing." In fact, the entire team attacked well by hitting nearly 60% attempts over the net for kills.

"I think we also did some good things defensively," Henry added. "Ashley Murphey did well at the net with 4 blocks, but our offense was the key because Lamar wasn't able to return many of our hits. We played really well." On Saturday the Plainswomen took on Western Wyoming for the second time this season. Both teams met in the Wyoming/Nebraska Tournament at the end of September with NJC winning in 5 sets.

It was also Western Wyoming that knocked the Plainswomen out of the Region IX Tournament last year, denying them a second straight trip to the NJCAA National Tournament.

"Going to their place and winning in 4 sets was nice," Henry said. "But I didn't really think much about them being the team that beat us out of the regionals last year. "They look very different than last year, and we look very different. Their focus is on playing good defense and having a good offense around a big block. They are a very good team."

NJC's defense stood out big in that win as Murphey had 14 blocks. In the back row, NJC dug out 125 of Western Wyoming attacks, led by sophomore Jenni Hirneisen with 25 digs and sophomore Breezy Tuck with 24. NJC also employed a balanced hitting attack as Sakis and Murphey had 15 kills each and Hirneisen 9.

"But more of the key to this win was the blocking of Murphey with 14 blocks," Henry said. "She had a lot of touches where she slowed the ball down and defensively we were able to set the ball up and get our offense started. So she had quite a game.

"On the back row, both teams were digging a lot of balls, and there were a lot of long rallies. So our defense really played well." NJC can now look ahead to Thursday's re-match with the WNCC Lady Cougars in Scottsbluff. Both teams met back on Sept. 30 at NJC, with the Lady Cougars winning in 4 games, 21-30, 30-24, 24-30, 28-30.. WNCC enters the match ranked ninth in the nation.

A year ago at this time, NJC went into Scottsbluff ranked 11th in the nation with the Lady Cougars 12th. The Plainswomen won the match, moving up to 10th in the nation and knocking WNCC down to 15th. Henry and her team would like to see that happen again, but most important, Thursday's match could very well decide the number 1 seed in the Region IX Tournament Nov. 11-13 at NJC.

A WNCC win over NJC would give the Lady Cougars the South Sub-Region championship. Since NJC lost to WNCC in 4 sets on Sept. 30, the Plainswomen could get the number 1 seed with a win in 3 games Thursday. If NJC wins the match in 4 games, the outcome will be determined on the scores of the match. If NJC wins in 5 games, WNCC would still get the number 1 seed.

"Our whole goal is to go there and execute like we have the last few weeks and see what kind of match we can play against them," Henry said. "Since we played them the last time, we have worked really hard on being a better defensive team and a better blocking team. "I think we have accomplished those two goals in that amount of time. Us being ranked 11th in the nation and Western Nebraska ninth makes the match even more exciting."

NJC will close out the home season Friday against Western Wyoming, with the match starting at 5 p.m.

NJC vs. Lamar:

Kills - Emily Sakis, 25; Ashley Murphey, 9; Lindsey Wilson, 5; Jenni Hirneisen, 3; Casey Beardsley, 3; Megan Martinez, 2; Vanessia Lopez-Webster, 1. Assists - Beardsley, 35; Hirneisen, 1. Aces - Beardsley, 3; Hirneisen, 2; Sakis, 1; Murphey, 1. Digs - Kristin Anderson, 7; Chelsey Bauder, 6; Beardsley, 5; Amber Wiedeman, 4; Wilson, 4; Martinez, 4; Murphey, 3; Sakis, 2; Breezy Tuck, 1; Hirneisen, 1;. Blocks - Murphey, 4; Wilson, 4; Sakis, 3; Hirneisen, 1; Beardsley, 1.

NJC vs. Western Wyoming:

Kills - Sakis, 15; Murphey, 15; Hirneisen, 9; Wilson, 7; Martinez, 6; Beardsley, 3. Assists - Beardsley, 52; Martinez, 1. Aces - Martinez, 1; Beardsley, 1. Digs - Hirneisen, 25; Tuck, 24; Anderson, 22; Wilson, 13; Martinez, 12; Wiedeman, 11; Beardsley, 11; Sakis, 5; Murphey, 2. Blocks - Murphey, 14; Hirneisen, 4; Sakis, 4; Beardsley, 4; Martinez, 3; Wilson, 3.