Western Nebraska Observer - Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First

The Kimball Longhorns volleyball team hosted Leyton's Lady Warriors on Tuesday, Sept. 1, dropping the match three sets to one.

The Lady Warriors started hot, building a lead in the first set with great net play by junior Cortney Holt and freshman Kaitlyn Craig peppered with kills by senior Ella Draper.

But the Lady Longhorns hung in and fought back, with junior Amy Birkhofer and sophomore Jayden Paxton at the net providing blocks and kills to keep Kimball in the set.

Kimball started to get on a roll near the end of the set, while Leyton struggled to put the set away. The Lady Longhorns chipped away and tied the score at 24. Kimball picked up the next two points to take the set 26-24.

The Leyton squad settled in and regrouped and cruised to a 25-to-11 second set victory.

The next two sets were more competitive, but the visitors were able to keep in control and took the third set 25-19 and the final set 25-23 for the 3-1 match victory.

Craig and Holt led the Leyton attack with seven and six kills each, while Kimball junior Tianna Stierwalt had eight kill in the loss.

The Lady Longhorns then traveled to Bridgeport on Thursday to take on a strong Bridgeport team, and the Lady Bulldogs swept Kimball in three ssets, 25-17, 25-13 and 25-13.

Junior Amy Birkhofer led the Kimball attack with seven kills and two service aces, while senior Megan Spicer had 13 assists in the loss.