Norfolk, Neb. – A strong start to the season would continue Friday afternoon for the Cloud County Community College volleyball team with two more wins coming over Western Iowa Technical College and McCook Community College to open the 2023 Northeast Community College Marriott Invitational inside the Cox Activities Center in Norfolk, Nebraska.
 
Improving to 6-1 overall, the T-Birds have won three straight matches for the second time this season after dispatching the Comets in straight sets before being pushed to a decisive fifth set for the first time this season against the Indians as part of their first win this year that did not come by sweep.
 
Against Western Iowa Tech:
Using a balanced effort on offense, CCCC would pick up a win in their first match in program history against the Comets by taking the first two sets by scores of 25-21 before pulling away in the third with a 25-14 third-set win for their fifth sweep of the year.
 
Following up a 20-kill outing in their last match against McPherson College JV, sophomore Doga Eski would reach the double-digit kill mark once again by recording 16 kills on 30 attempts while finishing with a .433 attack percentage to go along with 14 digs and one block. Joining Eski in double-figures would be Bradie Medina with a 10-kill outing in addition to a team-high 15 digs for a double-double as four different T-Birds would finish with more than 10 digs. Assisting the offensive output would the duo of Brette Doile (14) and Katelynn Brogan (12) as the two team leaders in set assists with 37 of the 42 kills recorded by Cloud County having a set assist.
 
Against McCook:
Facing off with a McCook squad that was playing their first match of the weekend the closest set of the match would come in the opener as the Indians would be able to pull out a 25-23 victory to go up 1-0 in the match before seeing CCCC respond with a 25-17 set two victory to even the score. Putting together another strong set for a 25-18 win in the third, Cloud County would see things unravel in the fourth as McCook would be able to bring things back even with a 25-16 set victory to force a deciding fifth set. Returning things back to the way they were in the second and third sets, the T-Birds would not face much trouble down the stretch as CCCC would be able to take a 15-10 win in the set and hand the Indians their third-consecutive loss after a 2-0 start to the year.
 
Despite committing 22 attack errors and having a .182 attack percentage for the match, Cloud County would see their set victories come in sets where the T-Birds combined to commit just six attack errors while hitting .311 in the sets that they won compared to a .046 attack percentage in the first and fourth set that they lost.
 
After putting together a 16-kill match in the first match of the day, Eski would again finish with 16 kills to lead Cloud County with Medina once again joining her in double-figures by having a career-high 13 kills. Brogan would also reach double-digit kills with 11 to put three CCCC players past the 10-kill threshold as the trio would combine for 111 of the 176 total attacks by Cloud County.
 
Both Medina (30) and Brogan (21) would also have big days defensively in the dig department while Brogan would add a team-best 23 set assists to record CCCC's first triple-double of the season while also providing two assisted blocks. Despite being held to just three total kills on the offensive end in the match, sophomore Madison Ronnebaum would have a four-block outing to help lead Cloud County who as a team finished with eight blocks.
 
What's Next?
A quick turnaround and early wake-up call will see action resume on Saturday morning for Cloud County with a 9 AM match against the Mount Marty University JV team before a 1 PM showdown with host Northeast Community College at 1 PM. At 6-1 overall, the Hawks have seen four of their six victories come in straight sets with their lone loss coming to Ranger College last weekend at the Garden City Community College Scooter's Coffee Invitational.