Knights tame Broncos in straight sets

North Platte Community College volleyball won a hard-fought match against Hastings College Tuesday night – to the delight of a hometown crowd. 

The Knights and Broncos went through the first set neck-and-neck, typically separated by three points or less. In the end, North Platte came out on top 25-21. 

The tide turned in the second set, as the Broncos took a six-point advantage and held it until late in the set, 20-14. A solo block by Morgan Ramsey cut the deficit to five as the momentum began to change in favor of the Knights. North Platte quickly jumped on the offensive and erased the deficit thanks to the hard-hitting efforts of Ramsey and Avery Okeson. 

In the closing moments of the set, an attacking error by Hastings gave the Knights the slight edge before the Broncos evened the game back up, 25-25. North Platte went back to work as back-to-back kills by Karley Spillane and Ramsey gave the Knights the two-set advantage.

The Knights kept the momentum rolling in the third set, but Hastings stayed close as neither team managed to pull away early. As the teams reached the midway point, the Knights began to flex their muscles and pulled away to complete the sweep of the Broncos. 

Ramsey was the standout of the night with 13 kills. Spillane added seven more and Okeson finished the match with four. 

Avah Steggall put up 25 assists. Whitney Chintala went for 17 digs, and Tessa Metschke contributed 10. 

"We struggled in sets one and two, but I liked how we fought back in set two, and that gave us momentum for the third," said head coach Alexa McCall. "We were able to make some changes and had some kids come in and help the team. I want to thank our sophomores for all they have done for our program. I was happy to get the sweep on sophomore night." 

The match was the final home game of the season for North Platte. Next up, the Knights will travel to Trinidad, Colo. to battle the Trinidad State College Trojans at 6:30 p.m. Friday.