Kanzaland radio broadcast audio - Holton at Nemaha Central - click here to listen

Big Seven League portion of the volleyball season opened up on Thursday night across the League the top two teams from last year squared off against each other in their first League action of the season. Nemaha Central Thunder who had tournament action under their belt heading into the matchup hosted the Holton Wildcats and it was the Thunder continuing their strong start to the season with a pair of straight set wins 25-21, 25-16 and 25-15, 25-12. 

First match saw Holton pounce on the first point of the night but Nemaha Central quickly took control going on a 5-0 run to lead 5-1 early on. The lead would not however go past four throughout the set as Holton stayed within striking distance with the Thunder and tied the contest at 11-11 and also at 20-20 after a 4-0 run. But Nemaha Central had an answer to Holton's run and went up 24-21 on an Ashley Larkin ace and then one set one 25-21. Set two was back and forth for the first few tallies and tied at 3-3 when Nemaha Central posted a 5-0 run led by their blocking upfront. The lead grew for the Thunder all the way to 17-9 when Holton called a timeout and then out of the timeout Nemaha Central posted another point to have their largest lead of the contest at 18-9. The lead proved to be too much for Holton and Nemaha Central took set two 25-16 to earn the match win. 

The second match of the night saw Nemaha Central establish themselves early as the Thunder sounded off for a 7-0 start to the first set which led to a Holton timeout. That lead dwindled down as Holton fought back momentarily but only to see the Thunder have an answer and a late Larkin ace again helped the Thunder take the first set 25-15. Set two started with a pair of aces for Larkin and the Thunder and Nemaha Central worked to a 18-10 lead and back-to-back aces by Laura Macke late in the set secure it for the Thunder 25-12 to give them the sweep on the night. 

Leading the charge for Nemaha Central was Macke, Larkin and Jacy Dalinghaus upfront while Riley Bontrager played well as well. For Holton they had strong performances by Regan Baum and Josie Marriott, while Shay Tanking helped lead the way. 

The two wins move Nemaha Central to 7-1 on the season overall and 2-0 in the Big Seven League, while Holton fell to 0-2 to open up the volleyball season.