Central suffers setback at nationals

WISCONSIN DELLS, Wis. -- The Central Community College volleyball team dropped its opening match of the NJCAA Division II Tournament Thursday.

NJCAA D-II, No. 17 Columbus State (Ohio) Community College got the better of the Raiders in a 25-19, 21-25, 25-22, 25-15 win in the first round of the tournament.

Central drops into the loser’s bracket and will play Brunswick CC (N.C.) at noon today. Brunswick fell to No. 1 Kishwaugee CC (Ill.) 25-15, 25-10, 25-6.

CCC coach Mary Young said the match came down to ball control.

“They are a good team that played pretty gritty defense,” Young said. “They ball control very well. I thought we didn’t have our best day with ball control. That’s disappointing because we have been doing pretty well with that lately.”

After the two teams traded the first two sets, neither could gain an advantage as both teams held one-point leads throughout the third set. But the Cougars went on a four-point run to go up 20-16 and never looked back.

We were right there, but we lost a little focused,” Young said. “We made a few errors during that stretch which allowed them to take control. That was a little crucial at that point of the match.”

Columbus State took that momentum into the fourth set in jumping to a 23-13 lead. The Raiders did fight off two match points but the deficit was too much to overcome.

Riley Callan paced Central with 14 kill, 28 digs. Ashley Wurdeman added 10 kills. Libero Ashley Abegglen added 27 digs.

Young said even with the loss, she likes the Raiders chances of finishing high in the national tournament.

“We’re still here,” Young said. “The important thing is to take one match at a time. We just need to put this match behind and be ready to go for the rest of the weekend. Our goal is to play on Saturday.”

Columbus State (Ohio) 25 21 25 25

Central CC 19 25 22 15

Central Totals

• KILLS: Riley Callan 14, Ashley Wurdeman 10, Ann Spenner 8.

• ASSISTS: Tasha Poppe 44.

• DIGS: Riley Callan 28, Ashley Abegglen 27, Poppe 20.

• BLOCKS: Lisa Oberhauser 4.

• ACES: Kendra Aldag 3.