Northwest earns two quick wins

Grand Island Northwest did not waste a lot of time Tuesday night as it hosted a triangular with Holdrege and Central City.

The Vikings went to work with ferocious efficiency, as they blew away the Dusters in the opener 25-7, 25-8 and then took care of Central City 25-14, 25-6.

Central City won the evening's third match as it defeated Holdrege 25-21, 25-18.

Northwest coach Diane Rouzee gave her team credit for a strong all-around effort as the Vikings hit the ground running and, with one brief exception, kept the pressure on the other teams start to finish.

That reality check came in the opening moments of set one against the Bison, who more than held their own against Northwest (24-2, rated No. 2 in Class B by the Omaha World-Herald) as they trailed 12-11.

Central City matched the Vikings flurry for flurry as a 10-5 Northwest lead suddenly shrank to 11-10.

Taylor Johnson, who played a strong middle game for Northwest, slammed a kill to the back right corner of the Bison defense only to see Jordanne Speer return the favor for Central City. Clearly the Vikings needed to shift gears and get back into their game.

"The intensity wasn't there," Rouzee said. "The girls had to be reminded that you have to be there mentally every game. I was proud of them, because they came out and cranked it up."

Everything changed as Jenna Rouzee got the sideout for Northwest and then came to the service line.

The Viking lead was suddenly five rather than one, and the Bison never got closer than three after that.

Libero Kyla Havranek then served the Vikings to the end of the set, forcing Central City (10-6) into three unforced errors and getting bookend kills from Taylor.

There was no such drama in the second set, as Northwest not only maintained but built on its earlier momentum.

The Vikings used three big offensive surges to build its lead, as they sent only one rotation to the line.

Shayna Schacher got the first point of the set as she tipped down a Bison dig at the net.

Central City then hurt itself with three consecutive unforced errors before Speer broke serve. The teams traded points until the Vikings got a dump set from Rouzee.

Melissa Costello then nailed a six-point run, including a pair of aces and back-to-back kills from Lydia Myers, as the lead suddenly expanded to double digits.

Central City got a brief respite as it forced a Northwest hitting error and Lexi Malm dropped an ace into the Viking defense, but Rouzee gave her team control of the ball with a kill from the left side. That brought another six-point run and a 21-6 lead.

Schacher ended the night as she slammed a kill after a Central City overpass.

Central City coach Kelly McHargue said she was happy to see her team hang with Northwest in the early going, but said her team was unable to maintain its focus through the highs and lows of the match.

"We had a few errors in the first set that shattered our confidence," she said. "That was uncharacteristic of us -- we were a little more uptight than usual. We weren't able to set Lexi in the middle like we wanted. Northwest takes advantage of everything you do wrong, so you just can't make mistakes against them."

As the season progresses, Rouzee noted that her team is showing the kind of growth and maturity she was hoping to see.

"I'm really proud of the kids top to bottom," she said. "We tell them that if they give us their best effort, all the other stuff will take care of itself. We've developed into a really good ball-handling team, our hitting and blocking are a lot better, and I think the pieces are coming together well. We're fortunate in that we have some really good athletes. We don't expect them to be perfect, but we want to always see the effort."



Central City    14    6

Northwest    25    25

Scoring--CC, Shively 2, Harlow 2. NW, Rouzee 12, Havranek 11, Costello 10. Kills--CC, Malm 6, Janky 4. NW, Schacher 5, Johnson 4, Rouzee 4. Set Assists--NW, Rouzee 15, Faaborg 3. Digs--CC, Maresh 10. NW, Havranek 11. Blocks--CC, Malm 3. NW, Rouzee 1.



Holdrege    7    8

Northwest    25    25

Northwest--Scoring, Havranek 15, Rouzee 9, Costello 8. Kills, Schacher 6, Johnson 6, Rouzee 6. Set Assists, Rouzee 14. Digs, Bockman 6, Myers 6, Havranek 6. Blocks--Johnson 4, Schacher 3.