The Nemaha Central volleyball team opened up Big East league play on Tuesday night with straight set wins over both Royal Valley and Perry-Lecompton. 

The Thunder (7-1, 2-0) defeated Royal Valley in their first match 25-14 & 25-21 and they would follow that up with a victory over the Kaws 25-18 & 25-20.

NC scored six of the first eight points in the first set against Royal Valley and never looked back. The Panthers were down by as many as 23-14 in the second set but rallied with seven of the next eight points but would ultimately come up short. 

The Thunder led the Kaws 9-6 in the first set when a timeout was taken. After the timeout, they would score 12 of the next 16 points to secure the set one win. The Kaws rallied in set two and at one point it was tied 19-19 but the Thunder would score six of the next eight points for the win. 

Royal Valley (1-1, 1-1) defeated Perry-Lecompton (0-2, 0-2) in the other match of the night in three sets 25-18, 21-25 & 25-22. 

The Panthers had a stretch in the first set against the Kaws where they scored 11 of 12 points to pull away for the set win. The Kaws built a 17-9 lead in set two with a late Panthers rally coming up short to force a winner take all set three. Third set was close throughout with the Panthers pulling away down the stretch for the win.