Bison JV spikers defeat Lexington, Gothenburg

The McCook High School junior varsity volleyball team improved to 7-3 with victories over Lexington and Gothenburg at home this week.

The Bison JV defeated Lexington 25-19, 25-23 and Gothenburg 25-17, 25-17.

McCook JV 25 25

Lexington JV 19 23

McCook's leading server: Sam Brown 12-of-14, 5 aces.

McCook's leading hitter: Joanna Bryant 17-of-20, 9 kills.

McCook's leading setter: Brianna Watkins 47-of-51, 22 assists.

"In the first game, it was close for the first eight rotations and then we broke it open with a nice combination of Joanna Bryant's serving and Audrey Hagan hitting," said McCook JV coach George Briggs.

"Then, later, Audrey served some tough points and Joanna got some timely kills. to win the game. The second game was a bit of a disappointment as we built a 10-3 lead, but we were unable to hold it.

"Eventually, Lexington tied the scored at 21. But, we were able to pull out to a lead of 24-21 and managed to hang on for the 25-23 win.

"A lot of Lexington's ability to get back into the second game, came from mistakes on our side of the net. We just were not connecting well in the three phases of the game -- passing, setting, and hitting.

McCook JV 25 25

Gothenburg JV 17 17

McCook's leading server: Sarah Fritsch 11-of-11, 5 aces.

McCook's leading hitter: Joanna Bryant 12-of-15, 8 kills.

McCook's leading setter: Sarah Fritsch 39-of-40, 12 assists.

"We played Gothenburg on Tuesday night," Briggs said. "We may have taken them for granted. It took until the later rotations in both games for us to begin to pull away.

"I am not so sure it was McCook raising its game as it was Gothenburg making some mistakes that helped us win both games and the match.

"Sarah Fritsch came into the match and executed some good sets and also served some good balls to make the difference in the later stages of the match."

Next sophomore and junior varsity matches will be at home on Thursday (Oct. 13) against the North Platte Bulldogs.

"The junior varsity will really have to raise its game as the next three matches are against traditional volleyball powerhouses North Platte, Ogallala and Scottsbluff," Briggs said.