Lady Warriors Drop Two Games In Osmond Triangular

Neligh-Oakdale dropped two matches in the Osmond triangular on Tuesday night.

In the first game, Clearwater-Orchard defeated the Lady Warriors in straight sets, 25-15 and 25-23.

"We came alive in the second set of the O-C game and kept them out of system, which helped us keep a steady lead up until late in the set," Coach Hannah Hoefer said. "We just couldn't finish."

She said missed serves hurt her team in both matches, especially the final match against Osmond who went on to win in three sets. The Lady Tigers took set 1, 25-22, and set 3, 25-23. The Lady Warriors won set 2, 25-17.

"We hurt ourselves in the game vs. Osmond," Hoefer said. "Missing 5 serves in the third and final set helped Osmond seal the win. Our serve receive hurt us as well. I wouldn't consider the serves either team sent us too aggressive, but we struggled to get the ball playable, which kept us from being aggressive on offense."

She said Neligh-Oakdale's serve receive percentage was 73 percent in the game vs O-C, and 77 percent vs. Osmond.
 
"That needs to get better to keep us in the game and to help us win these tight matches," Hoefer said. 

Defensively, she said her team did well adjusting. 

"We have tried a couple different options, and I think we found the one that fits our team best and will continue to work that defense," Hoefer said. "I feel the team got flustered last night and didn't have the team chemistry they showed us in Niobrara, and we need that to help fight through slumps of games. We fix these errors and we will be finishing the games with a better outcome." 

The Lady Warriors will travel to Stuart on Monday, Sept. 29 for a triangular with Stuart and St. Mary's.

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