10-15-14 • By Kyle Cummings / kcummings@columbustelegram.com

COLUMBUS -- It wasn't the cleanest match, but the Raiders pulled through to get the sweep.

The National Junior College Athletic Association Division II, No. 2 Central Community College volleyball team overcame a mental block to sweep North Platte Community College 25-19, 25-23, 25-20 Wednesday at the Raider Fieldhouse.

"We didn't play very sharp, but I would say that we showed a lot of poise at times," Central head coach Mary Young said. "We got the sweep and we got the win. We're always going to have a battle with North Platte. They're a good, strong program, so we respect them."

With about two weeks left before the regional tournament, Young expected a cleaner match out of her squad.

At the same time, she understands the toll the season can take on a player.

"I think part of the thing is the schedule plays into it," she said.

Central hasn't had more than four days of rest between matches since Sept. 17.

"We're coming up on our fall break and I think there's a lot of things going on in the players' heads," Young said. "I think our fall break is really coming at a good time for us, because we need a little rest. I think that will be a good recharge for us."

The Raiders showed that mental block early, helping North Platte with two errors in the first four points.

North Platte took advantage of those errors to take a 4-2 lead.

"That wasn't the start we wanted to see, either," Young said. "We really wanted to jump on them right away and to get into their players' heads with our big block or the ability to swing hard."

But Central was able to refocus and rattle off seven of the next eight points to take a 9-5 lead.

"The poise we showed was when we were down and we came back and made a run and basically shut the door when we needed to," Young said. "It was almost like we shifted gears when we really needed to and took care of business."

The Raiders were able to ride that lead to a 25-19 first-set win.

Just as quick, though, Central found itself in a lull, falling into a 15-11 second-set deficit.

Central scratched back some momentum though, thanks to a spark from Morgan Nikkila.

"I thought Morgan played real steady," Young said. "I told (setter) Cassidy (Yong) at the end of Set 2, 'You have to get the ball to Morgan.' They kind of forgot about Morgan out here and Morgan was having a ton of success. We want to see that out of a freshman like her."

Nikkila tallied five kills in the second set and finished with nine for the match.

After nine ties through the third set, Central was finally able to take over.

But that wasn't without digging into a four-point hole mid-way through the final set.

"I kept telling them, 'Kick their team out of your head,'" Young said. "We let North Platte get in our heads. I just said, 'You have decided that they are the issue and really, you need to take care of what we can take care of and take control of the match and that starts with passing the ball, then doing the things that we do best -- talking, communication and really, our ball control.'"

Eventually Central put that together, stringing off seven of the last eight points to take the 25-20 third set win for the sweep.

Central hosts Southwestern Community College Friday.

Wednesday at the Raider Fieldhouse

North Platte (18-15) 19 23 20

Central (27-5) 25 25 25

* KILLS: Central - Megan Anderson 11, Morgan Nikkila 9, Skyler Erickson 7, Makaleigh Yantzie 6, Payton Chohon 4, Cassidy Yong 2; North Platte - Samantha Kennedy 13, Samantha Byrn 8, Valerie Most 6, Kylie Wroot 2, Samantha Morgan 1, Joli Hopping 1

* BLOCKS: Central - Anderson 3, Yong 1, Yantzie 1; North Platte - Morgan 2, Kennedy 2, Most 1, Byrn 1

* ACE SERVES: Central - Molly Gotschall 2, Shayla Trotter 1, Brooke Robertson 1, Erickson 1, Chohon 1; North Platte - Kennedy 1, Aryn Meisinger 1, Wroot 1

* ASSISTS: Central - Yong 35; North Platte - Hopping 27