Knights split on day one of Central Wyoming Invite

Riverton, Wyo. – North Platte Community College volleyball opened the Central Wyoming Invitational on Friday with a thrilling five-set win over host Central Wyoming College (26-24, 24-26, 25-22, 15-25, 15-12), before falling in a five-set battle to Gillette College (25-20, 14-25, 25-11, 28-30, 9-15).

North Platte 3 Central Wyoming 2

In game one, Makenna Stephenson led the Knights with 27 kills and four digs, while Zoe Maher anchored the defense with 30 digs.

"I was pleased with our win this morning," said head coach Alexa McCall. "We had so many errors, so to still come out on top was good for us." 

The first set was a tightly contested battle. Trailing 16-13, the Knights called a timeout and regrouped. Late in the set tied at 24-24, Nya Lual came up clutch with a tip and a block to secure the opening frame for North Platte.

Central Wyoming responded in set two, jumping out to an early 8-2 lead. Despite a late push by the Knights, including a kill from Khloee Wright and a pair of scoring runs, the Rustlers held on to even the match.

North Platte started set three with a 3-0 lead. A kill by Stephenson in the middle of the set sparked a 6-0 run that gave the Knights a five-point cushion. Central tied the set at 22, but the Knights held on to take a 2-1 match lead.

Central Wyoming dominated the fourth set, holding North Platte to just 15 points, forcing a fifth set. 

In the final frame, both teams battled back and forth, but Stephenson came up big once again with consecutive kills and Lual got a key block to close out the win for the Knights.

Gillette College 3 North Platte 2                  

Stephenson continued her stellar day with 24 kills and eight digs, while Wright added 22 kills and led the defense with 22 digs. Freshman Kiley Kearney orchestrated the offense with 54 assists in the five sets.

"Gillette is a good team and we were close to giving them their first loss," said head coach Alexa McCall. "We must find a way to close out matches like these." 

The Knights pushed Gillette to the brink in a tightly contested five-set match but couldn't close out the fifth.

North Platte (4-9) returns Saturday for the final day of the Central Wyoming Invitational in Riverton, Wyo. The Knights take on the Spartans of Colorado Northwestern Community College at 11 a.m.