Crawford – As Niobrara County High School volleyball was warming up last Thursday evening, senior all-conference hitter Courtney Rowley went to the bench limping. The coaches immediately pulled her from the lineup and an MRI was scheduled for this week.

The Lusk girls had to forge on without Rowley, while classmate Bryn Bruch remains sidelined and awaits clearance to play. Without the two, NCHS was out of sync in the three-set loss. Scores went as follows 25-19, 25-20 and 25-16.

NCHS TEAM STATS: 47/55 85 percent serving. 21 kills/90 attempts, 23 pct. 17 assists. 10 stuff blocks. 125 digs/152 attempts, 82 pct.

NCHS PLAYER STATS: Serving – Lily Krueger 10/11; Renae Marker 9/10, 1 ace; Evelyn DesEnfants 12/14. Kills – Marker 7; Krueger 6; Anna Richardson 5. Stuff blocks - Krueger 6. Digs – E. DesEnfants 28; Marker 23; Richardson 22.

Lusk hosts Guernsey

NCHS was back in the friendly confines of Tiger Gym as Lusk hosted Guernsey-Sunrise on Friday evening.

The visitors showed a bit more fire early, taking a 10-8 lead before extending it to seven in the first set. Lily Krueger helped NCHS get back within one point, but the Lady Vikings prevailed 25-23.

The loss sparked Lusk to a fast start in the second set. Danni Larson offered five service points for a 15-6 lead. Jaden Stauffer then pushed NCHS to the win with four in a row in the 25-10 score.

The visitors responded with a tight back and forth third set before Renae Marker’s kill knotted the match at 13. Riley Shaw got the hot serving hand while Marker and Richardson came up big at the net. G-S tied the match at 23 before Richardson served up a pair for the 25-23 win.

The Lady Tigers never trailed in the fourth set but allowed the visitors to stay close. After a timeout, Krueger served up three points to open up a six-point lead as the Lady Vikings began to wear down. Marker stuffed another one to get NCHS up 24-19, but a few mistakes pulled G-S within 24-22. Lusk closed out their first win of the season with the 25-23 score.

NCHS TEAM STATS: 83/94, 20 aces, 88 percent serving. 19 kills/93 attempts, 20 pct. 16 assists. 10 stuff blocks. 74/89 digs, 83 percent.

NCHS PLAYER STATS: Serving – Krueger 14/14, 3 aces; Shaw 16/17, 3 aces; Marker 16/18, 5 aces; Larson 12/14, 2 aces, Richardson 5 aces. Kills – Richardson 7; Marker 5. Assists – Shaw 13. Digs- Richardson 12; Larson 12.

On Saturday evening, Wright came to Niobrara County to wrap a long weekend of matches, yet momentum from Friday’s win didn’t carry on long. NCHS took an 8-3 lead in the first set, but the Lady Panthers quickly tied it at 11. The Lady Tigers got even at 16 and 21 points, before the visitors scraped out the 25-22 win.

Momentum carried Wright into the second set as they built a 6-1 lead. The Lady Tigers got within four moments later but came up short 25-17. Exhaustion and lack of depth was too much to overcome for Lusk as they fell 25-14 in the third set.

NCHS TEAM STATS: 43/52, 83 pct serving. 17 kills/79 atts, 22 pct. 16 assists. 9 stuff blocks. 98/122, 80 pct digs.

NCHS PLAYER STATS: Serving- Marker 14/15; Richardson 6/7; Shaw 10/12. Kills- Marker 8; Richardson 5. Assists- Shaw 13. Digs- Larson 18; Shaw 17.

JV, C-squad fall

The JV lost to Crawford (9-25, 27-25 and 13-15), G-S (26-28, 25-16 and 8-15) and Wright (8-25 and 19-25). The C squad beat the Lady Vikings (21-25, 25-10 and 15-9).

This week the Lady Tigers will host Senior Night as Pine Bluffs comes to Lusk Friday afternoon. C squad begins at 4 p.m. and the seniors will be honored after the JV match.