Mustangs earn split for week

ANTHONY CRANE/THE FORUM
North Nodaway sophomore Zoey Phillips prepares to serve Monday in Maysville.

MAYSVILLE, Mo. – Nothing about this season has been easy for the North Nodaway Mustangs. No number of wins could change that part, but success certainly helps ease some of those woes.

The Mustangs got their first taste of that success on Thursday, earning their first win of the season. Not only did their 3-2 win give them their win of the season, it also gave North Nodaway its first ever win of East Atchison.

“Thursday, we came in knowing that we could hang with them,” North Nodaway coach Jody Thompson said. “We lost one, won one, but our first set was awful. But they were able to dig deep and come back. They were getting kills, they were moving the ball, they were talking and doing all the things I know they can do and just needed them to believe they could do it too.

“So it was huge—just mentally—all of them, we needed that win.”

The Mustangs were unable to turn that into consecutive wins, losing to Maysville 3-1. After falling in the first two sets, North Nodaway extended the evening with a win in the third set.

North Nodaway lost the first set of the night 25-14. They made it much more interesting in the second set after falling behind 21-14, the Mustangs came back to make it 23-22 Maysville.

The Wolverines went on to win the set 25-22.

“I think we were moving a lot better, and we were talking a lot better,” Mustang senior Lily Blane said. “Chandra didn’t come to school today, so we had to switch back and forth without her.”

North Nodaway showed resilience with what they contribute to the team’s togetherness in the third set.

“Not just on the court, but off the court, we make sure that we’re all there for each other,” Blane said.

Extending the match to four sets was no easy task for North Nodaway. The Wolverines led or tied with the Mustangs for the first third of the set, until a 10-3 run put the Mustangs ahead 16-10.

Maysville decided it was time for them to make a run, scoring 12 of the set’s next 16 points. The two teams then tied at 22, 23, and 24 before the final two points went to North Nodaway for the 26-24 win.

“I relied on Lily. I told her I needed her to step up as our captain and get talking to them and get them motivated,” Thompson said. “We were flat tonight and we weren’t talking and she helped get them talking.”

The final set looked like a continuance of the third set with the two teams trading points. The teams tied at one, two, three, four, and five in the early going.

The Wolverines took control from there, ending the set with a 20-5 run.

North Nodaway will be back at home on Monday to take on South Harrison. Then on Tuesday, the Mustangs will travel to Union Star for a rematch of a five-set match earlier in the year.

The Mustangs will finish the week with a home game against Mound City on Thursday.

“Points wise, we’ve scored more points this year than we have in I don’t know how long,” Thompson said. “We don’t have the wins, but we’ve scored more points. There’s things, very positive things that we’re doing.”