HEBRON — Wolfpack seldom venture this far south in mid-October but such was the case Saturday as EPPJ competed in a volleyball double triangular.
Fresh off a sweep of a triangular Thursday night at St. Mary’s, the Wolfpack Saturday faced three foes, two of those being foes seldom seen. EPPJ players and coaches were on the bus before 6:30 a.m. for the trek to Hebron which is close to the Kansas border.
Gaining valuable experience playing foes outside of the Niobrara Valley Conference, final results of the matches weren’t much to the Wolfpack’s liking as they dropped all three matches.
Central Valley found the Wolfpack a worthy opponent as they went three sets before the Cougars prevailed 25-17, 19-25 and 25-19.
The Wolfpack managed just 26 kills in the match, led by senior Kayton Zwingman with nine, Braelyn Martinsen had eight. Zwingman had four of the team’s seven solo blocks, Lillian Moser had three.
EPPJ was competitive in the other two matches, but slow starts proved costly. Thayer Central won the first set 25-12, then edged the Wolfpack 25-23 to attain the sweep. Against the Titans, the Wolfpack had just 15 kills in 59 swings. The Wolfpack’s two top setters – Camry Kittelson and Elizabeth Moser – combined for just 10 set assists.
In their final match of the day, Milford came out hot to defeat EPPJ 25-7. The second set was much more competitive as EPPJ rallied from 18 to 9 down only to make the set close as the Eagles prevailed 25-20.
Freshman Jael Lammers led the team with five kills. Unfortunately, EPPJ had more swinging errors at the net (20) than kills (16). Brooke Kinney led the team in digs (10) and serve receive (17).
With the losses, the Wolfpack’s record is now 16-9.
…see more at this week’s Elgin Review.
