North Nodaway is developing depth and trying to match their win total from last year, when they won two games against Bedford and Maysville. They have a chance to do that this week. They were playing at Maysville Monday night, and play South Holt and Essex this week.
The numbers were up this year after they were playing the numbers game last year; the Mustangs have ten players out this year. The question was who the hitter would be after the graduation of Lauren Herndon, one of the best hitters they produced. In her absence, Addalea Barcus, Lily Blane, and Nevaeh Smith have all stepped up at different times this year.
Against Union Star, the Mustangs held off several charges by the Trojans before finally beating them in straight sets. On the 14th, the Mustangs had every expectation of building on that; however, they were without Smith (migraine). It turned out that they needed her on the floor to be effective, and they struggled against Maryville’s junior varsity. They played two matches against the Spoofhounds. In the first, they lost in straight sets 10-25, 6-25. In the second match, they lost 6-25 in the first set. But a completely different team took the floor in the next set and they overcame an early 8-6 hole to take a 16-10 lead. Maryville fought back to tie it at 21-21, only for Lacy Riley to knock one down the middle after a setup from Lily Blane after a long volley to make it 22-21. Addalea Barcus had an ace to build a two point cushion. Maryville cut it to 23-22, only for the Mustangs to finish strong, finishing with an ace from Lacy Riley to win 25-22.
The Mustangs showed some promise in the third set after Amy Richards got an ace and Lacy Riley set up a cross hit by Addalea Barcus to cut the deficit to 4-3 as they were seemingly climbing out of an early hole. But then the bottom dropped out as they fell 6-25 and then were swept 0-15 in the tiebreaker set.
In the two matches, Addalea Barcus had 4 kills, Kila Miller 3, and Laney Turner, Lacy Riley, and Amy Richards 1.
Addalea Barcus had 2 blocks and Amy Richards 1.
Lacy Riley had 4 assists and Lily Blane 3.
Addalea Barcus, Amy Richards, and Lacy Riley had 2 aces each. Lily Blane and Kila Miller had 1 each.
They played well against Rock Port in the first set on September 19th, but faded as the match progressed and they lost 3-0. They played a forgettable match against South Harrison on September 23rd and lost, leading to Tuesday the 24th’s match against Nodaway Valley.
Going into the match against Ava Graham and the Thunder, North Nodaway walked into the brutal portion of their schedule with East Atchison on tap in two days. Still hung over from South Harrison the night before, they dropped the first set 25-6.
But like the match against Maryville JV, the Mustangs came out in the second looking like a completely different team. They scored the first five points of the set with Addalea Barcus getting a kill, Nevaeh Smith getting an ace, Lacy Riley getting a kill, and Lily Blane getting two assists, forcing the Thunder into a timeout. The Thunder fought back to within 5-4, only for Lily Blane, who had a bunch of aces in the Union Star win, get three in a row to make it 9-4.
Kills by Lacy Riley and Nevaeh Smith kept the Thunder from mounting a charge, and a long volley for the 20th point resolved in North Nodaway’s favor, making it 13-7. Lacy Riley was feeding people at will, and they led by as much as 16-9, but then the bottom dropped out. The Thunder went on a long run to take control, and they went on to win 25-18.
The Thunder completely outclassed the Mustangs in the third set to build up a 21-9 lead before aces by Lily Blane and Amy Richards and a kill by Addalea Barcus cut it to 25-13 at the end.
Addalea Barcus and Lily Blane had 4 kills. Amy Richards, Lacy Riley, and Nevaeh Smith had 2 each.
Lacy Riley and Laney Turner had two blocks. Nevaeh Smith had one.
Lacy Riley had 7 assists. Nevaeh Smith, Lily Blane, and Nevaeh Halvin each had 1.
Lily Blane had 4 aces. Nevaeh Smith, Addalea Barcus, and Amy Richards each had 1.
The junior varsity lost in straight sets 26-12, 25-17, but the Mustangs may have found a new setter in Pyper Smith. She had 6 assists in the match. She had been working at it since summer, after new coach Jody Thompson told her the team had to have another setter, and Pyper was starting to take to the position.
The focus of the team moving forward will be finishing strong; the first game of the junior varsity match followed the script of the second varsity match; the Mustangs were in front 12-11 at one point, only for the bottom to drop out. In the second set, the Mustangs dug themselves into a 9-3 hole, fought back to tie it at 10-10, only for the bottom to drop out again as they fell behind 23-14. A late push at the end cut it to 25-17.
Lily Blane had 4 kills. Nevaeh Halvin and Taccoa Moyer had 2 each, and Laney Turner had 1. Lily Blane had 3 aces. Pyper Smith and Taccoa Moyer had 1 each.
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