Wolves Battle the Thunder to 3-1 Win

NWP Wolves host Concordia Thunder for the second day of competition. Scoring is tight as the Wolves take a 5 - 4 lead over the Thunder. Wolves pull ahead with a big kill by NWP's #10 Josh Dumont score 11 – 8. Thunder's #11 Carson Hilburn delivers a huge kill and brings Concordia to 9 points. Wolves pull ahead with a 5-point lead and Concordia calls a time out, score is 15-10 for the Wolves. Wolves maintain their lead 18-13. A big kill by NWP #10 Josh Dumont set the score to 23-14. Wolves take the first set 25-15.

The second set begins with Wolves serving. A big block by #9 "Big Red" Tom Wheeler gives the Wolves the first point on the score board. Concordia answer right back and tie the game 1-1. Wolves #9 Tom Wheeler makes his presence known and gets the kill, 2-1 for the Wolves. #7 Trey Sanderson with the dig and on the block #17 Chad Morrison for another Wolves point. Wolves lead 6-4. Wolves #6 Lane Matthews with the perfect tip, 7-4 for the Wolves. An ace serve for #4 Kaden Bennett makes it 8-4 for the Wolves. Back to back out of bounds serves makes the set 9-5 for the Wolves. Concordia calls a time out. Concordia come out strong after the time out. Concordia give a huge block and starts to close the gap in the score. Wolves still lead 11-9. An out of bounds ball puts the serve back with the Wolves. After an excellent rally, Wolves come out with the point. Concordia #7 Kyle Robertson with the kill. Concordia come back and tie the game 15-15. An out of bounds call gives Wolves the lead. Points go back and fourth until Concordia pulls away with an 18-16 lead. #6 Lane Matthews with the ace serve to tie the game back up. Wolves lead 20-19. Concordia ties the game at 22-22. Wolves #6 Lane Matthews gets the ball up for #17 Chad Morrison to get the kill. Concordia answer back and tie the game again, it's 23-23. A bad tip gives Concordia the lead, 24-23. Wolves call time out. #6 Lane Matthews gets the point after the time out. Game is tied at 24-24. Concordia get the kill and take the lead back 25-24. Wolves answer back and tie the game at 25-25. The teams continue to go back and fourth until Thunder seal the set, 29-27.

The third set sees the Wolves pull ahead with a quick 2-point lead. Back and forth action continues and the Wolves pull away with a 2 point lead, score 5-3. The Thunder gain a 3 point lead and the Wolves take a time out Score is 8-5 for Concordia. Wolves return and tie it up at 9-9. The Thunder pull ahead and maintain a 1-point lead over the Wolves. Wolves battle back to tie it up but the Thunder pull away again by 2 points, score 16-18 for Concordia. Another kill by Concordia makes it 19-16. #11 Josh Watson picks up the kill, Wolves are back within two points to the leading Concordia. Another point for the Wolves puts the score at 21-20 for Concordia. Ace serve for #11 Josh Watson ties up the game at 21-21. Two back to back kills by #10 Josh Dumont put the Wolves in the lead 24-22. Wolves take the third set 25-22.

Wolves claim the first point in the fourth set and pull away by 4. Concordia gain two, but Wolves maintain a 3 point lead, score is 9 – 4 for the Wolves. Concordia calls a time out. NWP's #11 Josh Watson delivers a big kill to gain a point for the Wolves, they take a 7-point lead for a score of 11-4. Concordia digs in to tighten the gap but NWP still maintains the lead at 19-12. #2 Anthony Kibonge with a huge kill brings the score to 24-18 for the Wolves. Final set and win goes to the Wolves 25-19.

 Player of the Game presented by Farley

Player of the Game for Concordia is #15 Kurt Niehoff

Player of the Game for NWP is #7 Trey Sanderson