Wisner-Pilger swept by North Bend Central on road

North Bend-Wisner-Pilger Volleyball team lost to North Bend Central for the second time this season 3-0 on the road Tuesday night.

The Tigers claimed set one 25-14, set two 26-24, and set three 25-19.

Jordan Wegner paced the Gators (5-3) with 10 kills while Maci Batenhorst totaled 7. Cassidy Dixon and Lauren Jacobsen added 11 digs apiece. Jacobsen notched 14 set assists while Ariel Meyer had 8.

Wisner-Pilger takes on Stanton (7-1) and Pender (3-6) at the Stanton Triangular Tuesday night.

The Mustangs went 3-0 at the Boone Central Invite on Saturday while the Pendragons fell 3-0 at home to Wakefield Thursday night.

Wisner-Pilger shouldn't have any trouble with Pender, but Stanton figures to be a very tough challenge.

The Gators are a good, solid ball club right now, but Wisner-Pilger is 0-3 against teams above .500.

As a matter of fact, all five of the Gators' wins have come over teams under .500.

So what I'm trying to say is Wisner-Pilger needs to raise their level of play against the top teams they face.

The Mustangs are a big rival, and a very good program, and the Gators need to have good practices leading up to that triangular.

Wegner and Batenhorst have been very solid, consistent performers on offense for Wisner-Pilger, but the Gators need 3 or 4 girls contributing 7+ kills on a given night to be a great team, in my opinion.

Wisner-Pilger should have 3 or 4 girls make my stat cut off of 7 in kills, and numerous girls make it in digs, and 2 in set assists on a game-by-game basis.

I understand that North Bend Central is a tremendous power, but the Gators have to be better against the tough teams on their schedule.

Wisner-Pilger has to compete better and take more sets from the great teams on the slate.

Focusing on the Stanton match, the ultimate goal is to win of course, but the Gators need to do everything they can to at least take a set from the Mustangs.

Getting swept by Stanton will not help confidence or moral, in my opinion.

Wisner-Pilger needs to be more competitive against the big dogs, and continue to dominate the matches they're supposed to win.

This Gators team is good, but in order to be great and do something in the Conference and Subdistrict tournaments, Wisner-Pilger needs to turn the corner and play better against the tough teams on their schedule.

The Gators played Fremont Bergan tough, taking a set, and it's efforts like that Wisner-Pilger needs to continue to see.

This team will most likely go on to have a nice season, but how nice and how great depends on if and how much this team grows and improves from now until the end of the season.