Knights split on first day of MCC Invitational

McCook, Neb. – North Platte Community College opened the McCook Invitational with a four-set victory over Seward County (22-25, 25-13, 28-26, 25-23), before falling in straight sets to Iowa Western (23-25, 14-25, 21-25) on Friday.

North Platte 3 Seward County 1

"I was really pleased with how we played against Seward County," said head coach Alexa McCall. "We served really well and got them out of system, which really helped our defense." 

The Knights were dominant from the service line, tallying 14 aces against the Saints. Makenna Stephenson led the attack with 13 kills and 10 digs, while sophomore Zoe Maher anchored the back row with 23 digs.

In the opening set, the Knights fell behind early, 5-0, but rallied to even the set at 13-13. Despite the rally, Seward County battled back to take an early set lead.

North Platte responded in the second set by jumping out to a 5-0 lead. The North Platte block party gave the Saints trouble in the set, as the Knights evened the match with a 25-13 set win.

Knights rolled early in the third set as back-to-back kills by Khloee Wright and Jenna Claflin sparked a 6-0 run. Seward County made a late push to force extra points, but an ace by Trinity Beutler sealed the 28-26 set win.

In set four, Beutler delivered three straight aces to ignite another rally, giving the Knights a 16-15 lead. The Saints briefly regained control, but a pair of attacking errors combined with an ace from Kiley Kearney tied the game at 19-19. Knights and Saints traded points until three straight errors secured the match victory for North Platte.

Iowa Western 3 North Platte 0

Khloee Wright notched 13 kills on 34 swings for a .235 hitting percentage, along with 11 digs. Kiley Kearney registered 26 set assists, while Zoe Maher recorded 13 digs against the Reivers.

North Platte pushed the Reivers in the first set tying the game at 20-20 on a kill from Claflin. Iowa Western outscored the Knights down the stretch to take the opening set, 25-23.

The second set was dominated by Iowa Western, who used a 10-0 run to take full control of the set and take a two-set lead.

In the third set, the Knights mounted a 6-0 run to take a 17-15 advantage but were limited to just four more points as the Reivers secured the sweep.

"We have to make sure we are ready for tomorrow and keep working to clean up our play," said McCall.

North Platte (1-4) will return to the Peter and Dolores Graff Events Center in McCook on Saturday for the final day of the invitational. North Platte opens the day with Butler at 11 a.m., before finishing off with the Blue Dragons of Hutchinson at 3 p.m.