Lady Indians regain focus to defeat North County

BISMARCK — The Bismarck volleyball team looked to clean up its mistakes at home Tuesday evening after failing to match execution and intensity with Central one night earlier.

The Lady Indians rebounded with a perfect performance behind the service line, and improved its hitting accuracy to defeat North County 25-19, 26-24 after trailing throughout much of game two.

Outside hitter Darcy Latham knocked down eight kills and junior classmate Heather Prunty spiked her sixth on match point. Setter Jamey Kelley had 15 assists and senior Chandler Politte made seven digs for Bismarck (6-4-1).

Kourtney Kekec countered with eight kills overall, and North County (7-4-1) gradually established a 13-9 lead in game two after the sophomore recorded a booming solo block.

But the Lady Raiders yielded numerous points throughout the action on preventable net violations and attacking errors. A missed serve awarded Bismarck its first of two match points.

The Lady Indians erased two separate 5-point deficits down the stretch. Prunty caught the sideline with a middle spike to draw within 19-18, and Politte gently tapped off a double-block to put Bismarck ahead 23-22.

Middle blocker Paige Charboneau stuffed two potential winning spikes at 24-23 to extend the match. However, an off-speed attack two points later enabled Bismarck to comfortably set Prunty for the win.

Charboneau finished with five blocks overall. Dual setters Jenna McGraw and Kylie Dement tallied seven assists each while Ashley Dickey and Haley Echols contributed six digs apiece for the Lady Raiders.

Latham connected for six kills and served two aces during game one, twice placing spikes along the net and safely toward the opposite sideline.

McGraw answered Latham early with her first swing from the left side, but Bismarck moved in front to stay at 7-3 following two lifting calls and a back row spike that found the net.

North County reduced an 18-10 margin helped by two aces from Celeste Blum, and forced Bismarck to regroup with a timeout at 21-19.

Latham stopped the comeback attempt with a left-side kill, and the Lady Indians closed out the game on a 4-point scoring streak.