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RANDOLPH - The Randolph Lady Cardinal volleyball team is taking steps towards improvement while still searching for its first win of the 2024 season.
The Lady Cardinals finally have all of their personnel together as Brooke Meier returned to the court after some time off due to illness.
Randolph’s final match of last week was the second match in a triangular hosted by Tri County Northeast and with the Lady Cardinals matched up against the Lady Wolfpack in Allen.
“I’m not sure why but we came out flat against Tri County Northeast,” said Randolph coach Lyndsee English. “We had really shown improvement up until that match.”
TCNE swept past the Lady Cardinal 25-9 and 25-6.
In the opening match of the triangular, Randolph took on Osmond in a match that could have gone either way, especially in the opening set.
“We played very well and we played together as a team,” English said. “It was the best we have played all season.”
Despite the aggressive team play, the Lady Tigers took the match, 25-18 and 25-20.
“We were point for point until the end when we made a couple of small errors leading to Osmond getting the win,” English said. “I was very happy the girls came out strong in the second set after dropping the first set and didn’t give up.”
Lexi Backhaus and Meier each had a couple of ace serves in the match; Meier just missed a double-double with nine set assists and 10 digs.
Sydney Robinson registered three winners and had nine digs, Katarina Greiner had three kills and 11 digs.
Lilly Kuchta had a couple of kills and eight digs and Backhaus finished off a solid match adding five winners and five assists.
English identified Backhaus, Robinson, Greiner, Kuchta and Mabel Ngebeh as bright spots in the match.
In a best-of-five-sets match with Ponca in Ponca on Sept. 10, the Lady Cardinals gave a spirited effort in the first set, but tapered off from there before falling 25-14. 25-4 and 25-9.
“We had a decent first set but once we made a few errors we lost our confidence, giving Ponca easy wins in the second and third sets,” English said. “Lilly Kuchta tried very hard to dig as many Ponca attacks as she could, but we didn’t have much blocking to help her out.”
Kuchta finished with 10 digs, Robinson and Greiner each had four kills and Meier had nine set assists.
In the first match of the week, Hartington-Newcastle came to Randolph on Sept. 9 and after another good effort in the opening set by the Lady Cardinals, the Lady Wildcats came away with a 25-23, 25-9 and 25-12 sweep over their former conference foes.
“We still need to learn to put things behind us,” English said. “A mistake, a lost set, a bad point, we need to just move forward and be ready for the next play.”
Greiner had two aces, four kills and a couple of blocks to pace Randolph in the match.
Ngebeh had four kills, two blocks and six digs; Meier had two winners and six assists and Backhaus tipped up eight set assists.
Kuchta added six digs. The Lady Cardinals were set to host Neligh-Oakdale on Sept. 17 before hitting the road to take on Wausa Sept. 19. Both matches will be best-of-five sets.
Tri County Northeast defeats Randolph 25-9, 25-6.
RANDOLPH (0-10): Lily Kuchta- 3 kills 2 digs; Katarina Greiner- 2 blocks; Brooke Meier- 2 blocks, 3 set assists, 4 digs; Lexi Backhaus 3 set assists, 4 digs.
Osmond defeats Randolph 25-18, 25-20.
RANDOLPH: Backhaus- 2 ace serves, 5 kills, 5 set assists; Meier- 2 ace serves, 9 set assists, 10 digs; Sydney Robinson- 3 kills, 9 digs; Greiner- 3 kills 9 digs; Lilly Kuchta- 2 kills 8 digs; Mabel Ngebeh- 7 digs.
Ponca defeats Randolph 25-15, 25-4, 25-9.
RANDOLPH: Greiner- 4 kills; Kuchta- 10 digs; Robinson- 4 kills; Meier- 9 set assists; Backhaus-3 set assists; Ngebeh- 6 digs.
Hartington-Newcastle defeats Randolph 25-23, 25-9, 25-12.
RANDOLPH: Greiner- 2 ace serves, 4 kills 2 blocks; Kuchta- 6 digs; Ngebeh- 4 kills, 2 blocks, 6 digs; Backhaus- 8 set assists; Meier- 6 set assists, 2 kills.
