Story by NPCC Athletic Communications
North Platte, Neb. – The North Platte Community College volleyball team swept Colorado Northwestern Community College in three sets, 25-18, 25-9, 25-15 on Thursday night.
Sophomore Makenna Stephenson led the offense with 12 kills, while Khloee Wright and Marisa Carinci each recorded seven digs. Carinci also added three service aces.
“I really liked our ball control and thought we had a lot of options offensively,” said head coach Alexa McCall. “We need to clean up our errors, but I thought it was a good start for us.”
Colorado Northwestern grabbed the first point of the match, but Wright answered with a tip and a kill to give the Knights the lead. North Platte extended its advantage to 6-2 after two service aces from Merci Koontz. The Spartans battled back within one midway through the set, but the Knights remained composed and closed out the opening frame with a block.
North Platte carried that momentum into the second set, jumping out to a 6-1 lead on a kill by Stephenson. The Knights continued to control play, holding the Spartans to single digits before closing out the set and taking a 2-0 advantage.
North Platte took the lead early in the third set, but Colorado Northwestern would knot the game at four. The set remained a close battle until a Knights block and a Spartan net violation helped North Platte build a five-point lead midway through.
North Platte continued to pull away, eventually building a 10-point cushion at set point to comfortably close out the sweep.
North Platte (1-0) returns to the McDonald-Belton Gymnasium on Friday for day two of the NPCC Tournament. North Platte opens the day with Laramie County Community College at 1:30 p.m., before taking on Cloud County Community College at 6:30 p.m.