Lady Indians Place 2nd in Gove County Classic
The St. Francis Lady Indians competed in the Gove County Volleyball Classic Tournament at Wheatland and Grinnell on Saturday, September 13. The Lady Indians competed well throughout the day and earned a second place finish in the tournament. Complete tournament results are listed near the end of this article.
Vs Cheylin
The Lady Indians played Cheylin in their first match of the tournament. The Lady Indians played poorly in the first set of the day and lost game one 13-25. After a Cheylin missed serve, Journey Lee recorded a kill to tie the score at 2-all. The Lady Indians then made five consecutive errors before Cheylin earned a kill to move the score to 2-8. Another Journey Lee kill stopped the Lady Cougars' run. A third Lee kill moved the score to 6-10, and a net violation on Cheylin further trimmed the margin. Cheylin then scored seven consecutive points to take 7-17 advantage. This time, the Lady Cougar run was ended by a tip-kill by Ashlee Orth. McKayla Taylor recorded a strong kill at 10-18 and followed it with a nice deep-tip at 12-18. The Lady Cougars scored the next six points, three kills and three St. Francis miscues, to lead 12-24. Katie Schmid earned a kill for the Lady Indians (13-24), but the Lady Indians ended game one with a net violation. Cheylin won game one,13-25.
Game two began with a missed serve by the Lady Cougars. St. Francis followed with an ace from McKayla Taylor and a kill by McKenzie Taylor. Cheylin then committed three errors. After a long scrambling volley, McKayla Taylor earned a first-ball-over kill to move the score to 7-0. McKayla added another ace serve to trigger a Cheylin time-out at 8-0. Emily Elfers earned a kill on the next play to give the Lady Indians a 9-0 advantage. The run stopped with a Cheylin kill on the next play. An ace by Kyla Bandel gave the Lady Indians a ten-point lead (11-1). A nice dump-kill by Bandel moved the score to 16-7, but the Lady Indians missed their next serve. Cheylin pulled within six (17-11) before several Cheylin miscues, and a kill by McKenzie Taylor, brought the score to 21-11. Four consecutive points by the Lady Cougars triggered a St. Francis time-out (22-15). McKenzie Taylor followed with a kill, and Sydney Sundstrom added an ace before the Lady Indians won game two, 25-19.
Game three was a close one. Cheylin opened the game with another missed serve. Soon, the Lady Indians were up 5-0. St. Francis missed consecutive serves to help close the margin to 9-5. The largest margin was five (12-7) until Cheylin missed another serve. Kylie Sherlock followed with an ace. The advantage grew to eight (15-7) after a net violation and hitting error on the Lady Cougars. Unfortunately, the run stopped with a missed serve by the Lady Indians. In a few moments, the advantage decreased to 15-14 after an ace and two kills by Cheylin and a few Lady Indians misplays. A passing error on a Cheylin attack tied the game at 17-17, but Emily Elfers answered with a nice kill. A Cheylin kill was again answered by an Elfers kill (19-18). Cheylin hit out-of-bounds on the next play. Sydney Sundstrom's ace was followed by a McKenzie Taylor spike to give the Lady Indians a 22-18 lead. Consecutive kills by McKayla Taylor sealed a 25-21 win for the Lady Indians.
Vs Quinter
The Lady Indians defeated the Quinter Lady Bulldogs in their second match of the day in two very close sets. The match was exciting, but marred by a combined 14 missed serves. Kills by McKenzie Taylor and Emily Elfers, and an ace serve by McKayla Taylor, got the Lady Indians out to a 4-0 advantage. Quinter closed to 4-3 before missing a service attempt. Consecutive Quinter aces and a St. Francis hitting error tied the game at 8-all. Quinter missed the next serve giving St. Francis the lead. The teams traded points and the lead several times before a strong kill by the Lady Bulldogs was followed by consecutive errors by the Lady Indians allowing Quinter to pull ahead 11-14. Kyla Bandel recorded a kill on an over-passed ball, but the Lady Indians missed their serve (12-15). Kills by McKenzie Taylor and Kyla Bandel, plus a Bandel ace, soon erased the the Lady Bulldog advantage (15-15). A kill by Emily Elfers gave St. Francis a 16 -15 lead. Quinter recorded a kill on a St. Francis over-pass to regain the lead (17-18) and scored an ace serve to gain a two-point advantage. Another Quinter kill and ace extended the margin to 17-21 before the run ended with another missed serve. St. Francis also missed their service attempt (18-22). Consecutive hitting errors by Quinter, and a kill by McKayla Taylor, allowed St. Francis to tie game one 22-22. A Lady Indian attack error was followed by a Quinter kill (22-24). McKayla Taylor recorded a tip-kill before the Lady Bulldogs earned their final point. The Lady Indians lost game one 23-25.
Game two was much the same. St. Francis led 9-6 after taking advantage of three missed serves by the Lady Bulldogs. The St. Francis lead grew tow 10-6, but four consecutive errors by the Lady Indians allowed the score to become tied at 10. Quinter, again, missed their service attempt (11-10). Three consecutive miscues by Quinter were followed by a kill by McKayla Taylor to move the score to 15-10. But, the Lady Indians missed on their serve attempt, and soon the Lady Bulldogs trimmed the lead to 16-13. A McKenzie Taylor kill off a block attempt, a Bandel ace, and Journey Lee kill gave St. Francis some breathing room (19-13). St. Francis earned a 21-14 lead only to miss another serve. Another St. Francis missed serve moved the score to 22-17, but Quinter followed with a miss of their own. An ace, two stuff-blocks, and kill of an over-pass helped the Lady Bulldogs tie the game at 24-all. The Lady Indians did not play the next serve and the Lady Dawgs took a 24-25 advantage. After trading errors, the Lady Indians mis-judged a serve and lost the match 25-27.
Vs Wheatland-Grinnell
The Lady Indians defeated Wheatland-Grinnell (W-G) in straight sets 25-22; 26-24. The Lady Indians played outstanding defense in the match neutralizing a stronger attack from the Lady Thunderhawks. St. Francis took an early 7-2 lead after six consecutive Thunderhawk errors. The run came to an end, after a long volley, with a Lady Indian hitting error. After consecutive W-G attack attempts struck the net, the Lady Indians held a six-point advantage (9-3). A Thunderhawk ace trimmed the margin to 9-7. After a W-G hitting error, McKayla Taylor recorded a kill to move the score to 11-7. The Thunderhawks' Tholen answered with two strong kills of her own. A deep-tip kill by McKayla Taylor and an off-speed kill by Elfers again made the advantage four points (14-10). Consecutive W-G kills trimmed the margin to 15-13. The Lady Indians regained a four-point advantage (19-15) after the Thunderhawks missed a serve and mis-communication allowed a ball to drop on the Thunderhawk side of the court. St. Francis then missed a serve and gave up an ace to the Thunderhawks (19-17). An ace serve by Katie Schmid moved the score to 21-17. Another missed serve by the Lady Indians preceded a passing error, and the Thunderhawks again trimmed the advantage to two (22-20). The next volley ended with a St. Francis passing error (22-21), but W-G made consecutive errors on the next two volleys. A McKenzie Taylor kill finalized the score at 25-22.
In game two, the Lady Indians fell behind 1-4 after a couple kills by 5' 10" Thunderhawk freshman Schultz. Three consecutive errors by the Thunderhawks tied the game at 4-all. Kylie Sherlock made two exceptional digs on the next volley to stymie the Thunderhawk attack and help the Lady Indians gain a 5-4 advantage. A kill by McKenzie Taylor moved the score to 7-5. A over-pass was mis-played by St. Francis to tie the game at 9-all, but McKayla Taylor recorded a kill off a Thunderhawk block for a 10-9 advantage. W-G scored the next three points (10-12). Three consecutive attack errors by the Thunderhawks allowed St. Francis back in front 13-12, but the Lady Indians missed their service attempt. After the score was tied at 15 and 16, a sideline kill by McKayla Taylor gave St. Francis a 19-17 lead and triggered a W-G time-out. After the time-out, the Lady Indians again missed a serve. A Thunderhawk ace tied the game at 20. Consecutive W-G kills regained the lead for the Thunderhawks (21-22). A W-G attack error tied the game, but St. Francis again missed their service attempt (22-23). The score became tied at 24-all when a Kyla Bandel serve hit the tape and was misplayed by the Thunderhawks. Two Wheatland-Grinnell hitting errors gave the Lady Indians a 26-24 win.
Vs Decatur Community
With the Wheatland-Grinnell victory, the Lady Indians earned the number one seed out of Pool A and played the number two seed, Decatur Community, from Pool B in the semi-final round. The Lady Indians defeated Decatur Community (DC) in two very close games, 26-24; 26-24.
St. Francis jumped out to a 2-0 lead on Emily Elfer's kill and Kyla Bandel's tip. Another Elfers' kill tied the game at 3-all, and a McKayla Taylor kill gave the Lady Indians a 5-3 lead. A DC kill and ace quickly tied the game. St. Francis regained the lead (7-6) on a missed serve by the Lady Red Devils. DC took a 8-9 advantage after St. Francis service and attack errors. Two DC miscues and an Ashlee Orth ace put the Lady Indians back in front 11-9. Unfortunately, St. Francis missed the next serve attempt to stop the small run. St. Francis regained the lead on an Elfers' kill and took three-point leads on a stuff by McKenzie Taylor (14-11) and a kill by McKayla Taylor (15-12). A DC center-line infraction gave St. Francis a four-point advantage. The margin increased to five points (19-14) when DC was called for an illegal backrow attack. The teams traded missed serves and eventually the advantage decreased to three (20-17). After two DC errors, the Lady Indians regained a five-point lead (22-17). The advantage disappeared quickly as three consecutive kills by the Lady Red Devils trimmed the margin to 22-21 and led to a St. Francis time-out. A dump-set by Bandel scored the next point. DC tied the game at 24-all before the Lady Devils were called for a lift. A DC set into the net gave the Lady Indians a 26-24 win in game one.
DC jumped out to a 0-6 lead in game two as a result of an ace and four consecutive kills by the Lady Red Devils. The run was stopped by a missed serve. A second missed serve by DC trimmed the deficit to 3-7. A stuff by Katie Schmid moved the score to 4-9, and consecutive kills, one by McKayla Taylor and one by Kylie Sherlock, moved the scoreboard to 7-11. The deficit reduced to three (9-12) when DC mis-hit a St. Francis over-pass. The margin remained 4 to 6 points points all the way to 18-24 when DC missed another serve (their 6th of the match). Three consecutive hitting errors by the Lady Red Devils were followed by two net violations. The Lady Indians had earned a 24-24 tie. St. Francis took a 25-24 lead when McKenzie Taylor's attack bounced off a DC block attempt and landed out-of-bounds. DC mis-hit a free-ball to allow St. Francis to escape with a 26-24 come-from-behind win.
Vs Wheatland-Grinnell -Championship Match
St. Francis matched up with Wheatland-Grinnell (W-G) in the championship match. McKenzie Taylor's kill that rolled along the net was the only point the Lady Indians scored in the early portion of the game one. W-G jumped out to a quick 1-6 lead, before missing a service attempt. The deficit grew to 3-9 on a strong kill by Schultz of Whaetland-Grinnell. St. Francis missed two service attempts in the next few volleys while the Lady Thunderhawks recorded three ace serves. The point spread quickly grew to 7-18. Both teams played hard, but were growing weary from the long day of action. Many attacks by both teams were either out-of-bounds or in the net. St. Francis lost to Wheatland-Grinnell in game one, 15-25.
In game two, the teams exchanged points throughout the first portion of the game, and the score became tied at 7-all on an off-speed kill by McKayla Taylor that landed in the middle of the Thunderhawk defense. W-G then began to take the advantage. The Thunderhawks reeled off four kills and two ace serves before the run was stopped at 7-13 by a missed serve. A W-G kill of a St. Francis over-pass moved the score to 11-20, and the lead advanced to ten with another Thunderhawk kill. St. Francis lost to the Lady Thunderhawks 14-25, but earned a 2nd place finish in the Gove County Volleyball Classic.
The Lady Indians will travel to Sharon Springs on Tuesday, September 16, to compete with Wallace County and Rawlins County.
Complete tournament results are listed below. The winning team is underlined.
Pool A
Wheatland-Grinnell vs. Quinter 25-6, 25-11
Cheylin vs. St. Francis 25-13, 18-25, 21-25
Wheatland-Grinnell vs. Cheylin 25-18, 25-18
Quinter vs. St. Francis 25-23, 27-25
Wheatland-Grinnell vs. St. Francis 22-25, 24-26
Cheylin vs. Quinter 25-11, 25-14
Pool B
Golden Plains vs. Decatur Community 18-25, 4-25
Weskan vs. Greeley County 25-20, 25-10
Greeley County vs Decatur Community 2-25, 11-25
Golden Plains vs. Weskan 23-25, 25-22, 25-21
Weskan vs. Decatur Community 25-19, 25-15
Greeley County vs. Golden Plains 18-25, 4-25
Championship Bracket
St. Francis vs. Decatur Community 26-24, 26-24
Wheatland-Grinnell vs. Weskan 25-14, 25-21
3rd & 4th Place Game: Decatur Community vs. Weskan 22-25, 25-20, 25-19
Championship Game: Wheatland-Grinnell vs. St. Francis 25-15, 25-14
Consolation Bracket
Golden Plains vs. Quinter 21-25, 25-14, 25-23
Greeley County vs. Cheylin 9-25, 8-25
7th & 8th Place Game: Quinter vs. Greeley County 25-21, 25-14
5th & 6th Place Game: Golden Plains vs. Cheylin 25-19, 25-16
