HOPKINS, Mo. — Nodaway Valley and North Nodaway are each going into the second half of the 275 Conference season, and with a month before districts, both teams experimented with new lineup configurations on Tuesday.
The lineups worked in the Thunder’s favor as Nodaway Valley (6-9) earned a 25-7, 25-20 and 25-15 sweep over North Nodaway in Hopkins.
“We tried a lot of new and different things to see who is better at what positions,” Nodaway Valley sophomore Reganne Fast said. “We are doing well working together.”
For the Thunder, the experiment came with a 6-2 rotation and allowed sophomores Savanna Marriott and Paige Hanson to split setter responsibilities.
Hanson has been the primary setter all season, but coach Tobie Bohannon liked some aspects of the 2-setter system. Marriott finished with nine assists while Hanson had eight.
“It is just good to kinda see new things,” Bohannon said. “… I think both Paige and Savanna do a fantastic job setting and covering for each other. That was just a different rotation. Savanna just has fantastic hands and great coverage. You saw her jump in there and get some of those digs. … The two of them work so well together, but the 5-1 is running a little bit smoother than the 6-2.”
Marriott had a strong all-around game with nine assists, nine digs and four kills.
The Thunder jumped all over the Mustangs in the first set with a 12-1 lead to begin the set. North Nodaway junior Lauren Herndon tried to bring the Mustangs back into it with three kills, but the Thunder rolled to a 25-7 win.
The Mustangs (2-9) bounced back in the second set and took a quick 3-0 lead. Nodaway Valley roared back for a 10-5 lead, but a Herndon ace knotted the set at 12-12.
“They did a nice job staying positive and that has been a big thing that we’ve focused on this season,” North Nodaway coach Cari Cline said. “Our record doesn’t show the improvement that I’ve seen in the girls.”
It was 22-20 late with Herndon getting a kill to pull the Mustangs within two, but the Thunder closed the set with two-straight aces and a 25-20 win.
The third set was tight early with a Herndon kill cutting the Thunder lead to 7-5, but the serving of the Thunder was too much with an ace by Anastyn Nelson followed by four aces from Hanson leading to a 20-7 lead for Nodaway Valley.
“We had set a goal to be known as a good serving team and I feel like percentage-wise, we do really well with serves,” Nodaway Valley coach Tobie Bohannon said.
Nodaway Valley senior Alexis Maurer had one of her six kills to finish off the sweep with a 25-15 third set.
“I feel like we played pretty well,” Hanson said. “In the second set, we didn’t communicate as much, but in the third set, we came back and were communicating more. That helped us a lot.”
Hanson finished the night with seven aces as the Thunder racked up 18 as a team. Maurer led the team in kills while Nielsen had five. Sydney and Savanna Marriott shared the team lead with nine digs.
The Thunder host South Holt on Thursday before hosting South Harrison on Monday.
“We are working really hard at practice to fix our mistakes,” Hanson said.
The Mustangs host East Atchison on Thursday and travel to Maysville next Monday.
“We have to execute our kills,” Cline said. “We have to be able to score. We get in those long volleys and we have to be able to win those.”
South Harrison 3, North Nodaway 0
The Bulldogs topped North Nodaway 25-16, 25-7 and 25-12 on Monday night in Hopkins.
Rock Port 3, North Nodaway 0
Rock Port defeated North Nodaway 25-14, 25-12 and 25-25-12 last Thursday in Hopkins. Lauren Herndon had nine digs.
Nodaway Valley 3, Union Star 0
The Thunder swept Union Star 3-0 last Thursday in Burlington Junction. Alexis Maurer led the effort with 11 kills while Reganne Fast adde eight.
Paige Hanson had 21 assists and Sydney Marriott had six digs while Savanna Marriott had five aces.
Nodaway-Holt Tournament
East Atchison beat St. Joseph Christian to win the Nodaway-Holt Tournament on Saturday. Nodaway Valley went 1-3 in its home tournament.
They began the day with a 2-0 loss (25-20, 25-15) to South Holt as Paige Hanson had three aces and four assists.
East Atchison beat the Thunder 2-0 (25-12, 25-16) with Rileigh Brown collecting four digs.
Nodaway Valley rallied for a 2-1 win over North Platte after dropping the first set 25-20 but winning the last two 25-21 and 25-20. Alexis Maurer had 10 kills while Savanna Marriott had 12 digs and Hanson had 23 assists and four aces.
In the consolation final, Rock Port topped the Thunder 3-1 (25-14, 22-25, 25-14, 25-13). Maurer had seven kills, Sydney Marriott had 13 digs and Hanson had three aces.
