HUTCHINSON, Kansas – The Laramie County Community College volleyball team topped Snow College, 3-1 (25-18, 25-19, 23-25, 25-23) in a NJCAA National Tournament contest on Friday evening at Hutchinson Sports Arena.
Laramie County improved to 31-9 overall, while Snow fell to 27-7 overall.
Sophomore Avery Nelson (Colorado Springs, Colorado) paced the Golden Eagles with 18 kills, while fellow sophomore Jessica Benedict (Wright, Wyoming) added 15 kills. Nelson reached 1,000 kills for her career at LCCC with the first kill of the match. Sophomore Kasandra Sturges (Parker, Colorado) recorded 41 assists on the night.
Freshman McKayla Earl (Rawlins, Wyoming) led the defense with 12 digs, while Kyle Meltzer (Fort Collins, Colorado) tallied 11. Benedict had three blocks and Payton Stack (Casper, Wyoming) had two.
As a team, LCCC held a .184 hitting clip compared to Snow at 0.96.
Several runs late in the opening set gave the Golden Eagles a commanding 23-16 advantage over the Badgers. Laramie County prevented any comeback from the Badgers and took the first set against Snow, 25-18 with Benedict kills.
The Golden Eagles carried their momentum into the second set. A 6-2 run by the Golden Eagles gave them a four point lead. The run saw another kill from Benedict and a service ace from Kylie Martin (Gypsum, Colorado). Snow attempted to inch its way back into the game but another Martin ace gave them a seven point lead at 23-16. LCCC would get two more points to take the second set, 25-19.
Snow took an early lead to begin the third set. LCCC would stay within two or three points the entire set but couldn't regain the lead. Snow took the third set, 25-23.
In the fourth set, a tip from Sturges gave the Golden Eagles a 10-9 lead. From there the Golden Eagles would not surrender their lead. Snow would tie things up at 17-17 but three straight points gave LCCC the momentum to close out the set 25-23 and take the victory.
The Golden Eagles now get to play on Championship Saturday for 9th place and take on Mineral Area College on Saturday, Nov. 17, at 10 a.m. CT in the final match of the season.