ELGIN — Elgin Public-Pope John turned in one of their best efforts of the season Tuesday night, defeating Neligh-Oakdale and Riverside in a triangular.
Against the Warriors on this night, it was easy to see who was the better team as the Wolfpack defeated Neligh-Oakdale 25-18 and 25-18.
Coacn Tina Thiele-Blecher said her team was ready tor the match and it showed. In Set #1, kills by junior Haley Zegers and senior Kaylee Martinsen allowed EPPJ to open a 9 to 3 lead. The Warriors fought back as two ace serves by Clair Whitesel tied the score at 9-all.
The teams then traded points for a while. A kill by Martinsen started an eight-to-two run to close out the set. Martinsen added three ace serves, Zegers had another kill before Grace Rittscher closed out the set with another ace serve.
Set #2 began with the Wolfpack taking an 8 to 1 lead. Two ace serves by Ally Wemhoff combined with kills from Martinsen and Harlie Bode led the way. The lead grew to 16 to 7 as Kayce Kallhoff and Kirsten Krebs took turns hitting at the net.
The Warriors made a run, outscoring EPPJ nine to three to close the score to 19 to 16. Doing much of the damage was Paige Furstenau with three ace serves and Trinity Kurpgeweit cleaning up at the net.
EPPJ then put the match away with a six to two run. Kallhoff closed out the match with a big hit at the net.
Earlier, EPPJ had to go three sets to defeat Riverside 20-25, 25-16 and 25-15.
For the complete story, see this week’s issue of The Elgin Review.
