The Nemaha Central Middle School volleyball team had their first tournament of the season on Saturday, September 14, 2024. The tournament was hosted by Axtell and the teams that attended were Linn, Frankfort, Valley Heights, SPPS, NC seventh grade, NC eighth grade, Doniphan West, and Axtell.
The NC eighth grade was in the blue pool and the seventh grade was in the red pool. First up for the eighth-grade team in pool play was Frankfort. The Thunder won the first set 25-14, with some awesome rallies. Both teams played even better in the second set, but NC prevailed with a score of 25-20.
“We played well when we got down a point. We got stronger and won,” said Madison Ward, an eighth-grade volleyball player.
After the NC eighth graders played Frankfort, they moved on to their next opponent, Valley Heights. The Thunder's first set went pleasantly well as they won a close set, 25-22. The next set didn’t go as well as NC had hoped, they lost 13-25. Both teams went into the third set hoping to win, but Valley Heights came out on top and won the third set 6-15.
Finally, for the NC eighth grader’s last game, they played Linn. The first set was a struggle for the Thunder as they lost 19-25. In the second set, the Thunder was down early and went on to lose the second set 13-25 to a solid team. Since NC went 1-2 in pool play, they did not get to bracket play.
The NC seventh grade started strong against Axtell. The first set went great for the Thunder and they ended up winning 25-5. The second set went just as well as the first one, they won 25-16. The NC seventh graders played awesome and were excited to get a good first win in the tournament.
While the NC eighth graders were playing Valley Heights, the seventh graders were playing Doniphan West. The first set was 18-25, but Doniphan West ended up winning. The second set went much better, but the Thunder still lost a close one 23-25.
Last but not least, the Thunder seventh graders played SPPS. The first set's score was 17-25, they lost but played well. Next in their second set, the Thunder suffered another loss, 15-25 but kept up a good fight.
“We did really well because we were the only seventh-grade team in the tournament,” said Logan Honeyman, a seventh-grade volleyball player.
Both NC teams played great, but sadly couldn’t get out of pool play. They fought hard in all of their matches and didn't give up. It was a good experience for both teams to participate in a tournament before the league tournament at the end of the season. They learned a lot and hope to be at the top of their game by the league tournament.
Article by: Evelyn Ba Coc & Piper Hiltgen