North Central dropped a pair of close high school volleyball matches last week to close out their regular-season schedule at 11-17. The Thunder indeed lost a 25-11, 25-13 and 25-20 decision to Northwestern last Monday and a night later went the distance against Ipswich at home in Roscoe. (The Thunder lost this one 3-2.) They did win their first two sets by identical 25-18 margins.

But Ipswich would bounce back with three straight wins to capture the match 25-12, 25-18 and a 16-14 tie-breaker. The Thunder were led by Amree Vander Vorst in hitting with 40 accurate hits including 11 kills. They w...