No. 11 Hawks notch two wins at home

NORFOLK, Neb. – The No. 11 Northeast Community College volleyball team (4-5) hosted the Northeast Tournament on Friday and Saturday, grabbing two wins at the Cox Activities Center in Norfolk.

On Friday the Hawks defeated Lake Region State College, 25-19, 25-18 and 25-10 and fell to Fort Scott Community College, 16-25, 27-29 and 20-25.

On Saturday, Northeast downed Williston State College, 25-9, 25-9 and 25-21, before dropping the nightcap against North Dakota State College of Science, 25-23, 21-25, 22-25, 25-23 and 12-15.

Against the Royals, Caitlin Orton (Mills, Neb.) and Elley Beaver (Columbus, Neb.) tallied five kills apiece. Freshman setter Jamie Bonifas (Blue Hill, Neb.) had 11 assists.

In the loss to the Greyhounds, Brianna Bauer (O'Neill, Neb.) led the Hawks with 13 kills, while MaKayla Davidson (Alliance, Neb.) recorded 28 assists. Freshman libero Josie Sanger (Crofton, Neb.) added 23 digs.

On the second day of the tournament against Williston State, Hannah Heppner (Stanton, Neb.) notched seven kills and three blocks. Bonifas had 26 assists and Sanger pitched in 14 digs.

In the final game of the tournament, the Hawks faced off with NDSCS, a familiar foe from last season. Northeast previously defeated the Wildcats at the NJCAA DII National Tournament in Charleston, W.V., where the Hawks came out on top.

But, Saturday evening was a different story as both teams went neck-to-neck in the five-set thriller.

Beaver recorded 14 kills and 19 digs, while Orton, Heppner and Megan Wehrbein (Burchard, Neb.) added 10 kills each. Sanger and Davidson had 38 and 37 digs, respectively, while Bonifas recorded her first double-double of the season with 49 assists and 22 digs.

"Overall we played a good tournament," head coach Amanda Schultze said. "We had our struggles against a quick and in-system Fort Scott team, but we came back Saturday and played some competitive volleyball. NDSCS is a good team and was in to get revenge from their loss to us last year at the national tournament. We played a good game against them, but fell a few points short."

The Hawks hit the road for their first ICCAC match up of the season when they face Iowa Lakes Community College at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Estherville, Iowa.

For all news related to Northeast Community College athletics, visit northeasthawks.com for complete coverage. Fans can also follow the Hawks on Twitter @NortheastHawks for game-day coverage.