Minden overcomes slow start to sweep Holdrege
MINDEN — The circumstances of the evening weighed heavily on the undefeated Minden volleyball team.
Senior Night activities awaited after the match. Youth Night brought in a number of young admirers. Playing at home for the first time in two weeks, and the last time in the regular season, assured it would be a packed house. And lining up against down-the-road rival Holdrege added to the stress of the evening.
And when the Dusters rolled out to a 22-14 lead in the first set, the Whippets had to answer a wake-up call.
Scoring the next eight points, the Whippets (29-0) tied the game. And, after an attack error, Minden finished off the set and went on to a 25-23, 25-20, 25-22 victory.
"There's a lot tonight. I thought we were pressing a little bit. We weren't playing like ourselves," Minden coach Julie Ratka said. "We weren't playing defense.
PHOTOS: MInden volleyball sweeps HoldregeMinden volleyball beat Holdrege three sets to zero on Oct. 17, 2024.
"That second timeout I called, I got after them about defense, and they started digging in.
Holkdrege brought the offense. The Dusters (16-6) built their lead with eight kills, two ace serves and two blocks.
"At their house, on Sept. 28, we played really well against them. They definitely have gotten better," Ratka said.
Down the stretch in that first set, Minden's offense came from Myla Emery and Kinsie Land. Each had three kills.
Emery finished the match with 10 kills and Land had nine. Mattie Kamery led the way with 14 kills, three blocks and two ace serves. Makenna Betty and Makenna Starkey added four each, but seemed to bunch their attacks at key times.
"We can rely on any them at any given time. That's what makes us a little tough to defend," Ratka said.
Carson Sundquist led the Holdrege offense with 10 kills and Averi Bilka chiped in with seven. A total of six Holdrege players scored kills in the match, but the Dusters finished with 28 to Minden's 42.
It was the third loss in the lst four matches for Holdrege, but all have come at the hands of 20-win teams.
"They did a great job defending us tonight. They played scrappy defense. They were really gritty and we definitely weren't as gritty at the start," Ratka said.
Minden concludes the regular season Oct. 25 at the Southwest Conference Tournament in Broken Bow.
Holdrege has four maches before the conference tournament.
We serve received a little better in the second than in the first.
Mixed up our attacking a little bit.
PHOTOS: MInden volleyball sweeps HoldregeMinden volleyball beat Holdrege three sets to zero on Oct. 17, 2024.
