Nov. 5, 2007

TRINIDAD -- The Northeastern Junior College Plainswomen volleyball team looked sharp against Otero Junior College, but suffered yet another setback against Western Nebraska Community College during Day 1 of regional action at Scotts Gymnasium in Trinidad Friday.

NJC began the day with a victory against Otero, 30-18, 30-19, 30-22, following that up with a 22-30, 23-30, 27-30 performance against Western Nebraska Community College in the evening cap. The defeat places the Plainswomen in a match with Otero once again in the consolation bracket.

The women drove up Thursday afternoon, so they had plenty of rest to gear up for their two games Friday. In the opening game against Otero, they showed some good things early on.

Sophomore Addi Radke took the first serve of the game and recorded the first four points of the game to quickly place her team on top. A huge kill by fellow sophomore Thais Hollerbach made the game 8-2, forcing the Lady Rattlers of Otero to call their first time out of the match.

NJC sophomore Tamy Leipelt dropped in a kill to make the game 10-4, and the Plainswomen continued to pour it on from there. An ace by Tamy's sister, freshman Suyan Leipelt, capped an 11-4 run to open the lead to double digits.

Thais and Tamy, the wonderful talents from Brazil, would come out of Otero's second time-out with alternating kills on two occasions to increase their lead to 16 points. OJC would make a small run, but two kills late by Radke closed out Game 1.

The beginning of Game 2 wasn't as easy for the women as it was in the game prior, too. The game saw ties at one, two and five before NJC began to streak away. A loose ball kill by sophomore Jessica Tjaden made the game 7-5, and the girls were off to the races. After another ace by S. Leipelt to make the contest 15-9, the Plainswomen went on to outscore the Lady Rattlers 15-10 down the stretch to record another double-figure victory.

Northeastern didn't see their first lead in the final game until an ace by Hollerbach gave them a 7-6 lead. The two teams would battle back and fourth until the last tie of the game at 14. From there, the Plainswomen went on a 5-0 run, including an ace by Radke, to give the team some cushion.

Otero would make a move to cut the lead to two points but another run, this time a stretch of 9-3, was good enough to finish the contest with NJC sweeping their opponent.

After an extensive break, Northeastern played WNCC, a team that has had plenty of success against NJC within the last two seasons. Western Nebraska swept Northeastern during the regular season without dropping a single game.

The Plainswomen stepped it up against their opponent but it still wasn't enough to overcome the No. 5 team in the nation. NJC would keep the score close, but down the stretch, slowly began watching their lead diminish. A kill by Addi kept the lead tied at five, but a 5-2 advantage gave the team a lead that they would soon build on to take the opening game.

Game two featured 12 ties before a 7-1 run late in the contest put NJC away. Northeastern battled back and fourth with the Lady Cougars and actually had a lead as big as three points after T. Leipelt had back-to-back kills. Tamy would knock in another kill to make her team's deficit at 23-22, but that would be when the run began and ended for WNCC.

Finally, Game 3 began and ended nearly the same as the game prior too, with a 5-2 run that would be good enough to but the match away for Northeastern's opponent. This game would feature 13 ties, with the final one coming at 25-all.

Hollerbach gave her team a huge boost late in the game with tremendous hustle. At 23-21, Thais dove full force toward her bench to keep the ball alive, which turned into a point that extended the lead to three.

Now down game point at 29-26, T. Leipelt did all she could do, firing a kill and an ace on consecutive possessions to cut the disadvantage to two, but a final kill by Western Nebraska put the game away.

With a potential victory against Otero, NJC will face off against the Lady Cougars one more time for the region title. Because of the fact that Northeastern was defeated in the earlier match between the two, the Plainswomen would have to win back-to-back games against their conference foe to be crowned champions.

The game against Otero will begin at 10 a.m. today. The championship match is slated to start around 1 p.m.