The Nemaha Central Eighth Grade volleyball team traveled to Royal Valley for the Big 7 League Tournament on Saturday, October 1. The Thunder team came into the tournament as the sixth seed and hoped to go out of the tournament as the Big 7 League Champs.
The first team the Thunder girls played was Jeff West. The Thunder team lost to Jeff West in the regular season play, so they were ready for some tough competition. The NC team worked really hard but lost in the first set, 21-25. The Thunder team realized that they needed to work extra hard to beat this team. They came on the court super loud and ready to win in the second set. The Thunder girls had amazing passes and ended up winning 25-20. There was a lot of pressure on the girls to win the third set but they were ready for the challenge because they wanted the win badly. The Thunder team played aggressively and ended up winning a close one, 15-13.
The second team the NC girls played was Sabetha. The Thunder girls were ready to win the game, knowing that they beat Sabetha in their first meeting during the season. They wanted the win badly, so they worked hard and got the victory, 25-14. The girls were super excited that they beat Sabetha in the first set and they were so determined to beat them in the second set. The NC girls had amazing passes, sets, and hits that led them to dominate Sabetha, 25-16.
Ella Huerter said, “I loved every minute of it and we played really well.”
In the third match, the NC girls played Royal Valley. They came into the game so confident that they would win the game. The Thunder girls' serves were on point. They worked super hard to win so they could move on to the second set. They ended up winning the first set with a score of 25-16. In the second set, the Thunder team came out of their huddle knowing they were going to win this game. They were loud and they worked like crazy to win the second set 25-13.
In the semi-final match, the Thunder girls played Holton. They had lots of feelings going through their body, but they were ready to play. After they warmed up, the Thunder team went into their little huddle and came out loud and proud. They talked a lot in the first set and it helped out because they won, 25-15. The girls came back onto the court quiet and not that excited in the second set and they fell short 21-25. The Thunder girls went back into their huddle for the third set and came out a whole different team. They were loud and they had amazing kills in the third set. The Thunder team won the final set 15-9 to move on to the championship match.
It was finally here the championship game that determined the first place and the second place winners. The Thunder team matched back up with Jeff West who they played in the first match of the day. With inspiring words and skittles from Coach Nikki Honeyman, the girls were ready to play. The girls worked really hard in the first set and they won 25-21. Jeff West would not give up as they fought to win the second set, 18-25. The volleyball girls had all kinds of butterflies going through their stomachs. The third set came around and the Thunder team just could not regain their momentum. They lost the third set with a score of 15-9 to place second in the tournament.
Maggie Jones said, “It was fun and I was very happy that we were able to get second.”
In conclusion, the Thunder girls placed second in the tournament. They were so happy they made it that far and that they beat some teams that they had lost to in the regular season. Good job NCMS volleyball girls!
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