Volleyball Teams Lose to RC and WC
On Tuesday evening, September 16, the St. Francis High School volleyball team traveled to Sharon Springs to compete with Rawlins County (RC) and Wallace County (WC). The Lady Indians played hard but lost to both opponents in two sets.
Against Rawlins County, the Lady Indians trailed early but tied the match at 4-all on a net violation by the Lady Buffs. RC followed with consecutive kills, McKenzie Taylor answered with a kill and an ace serve to tie the match at 6. Rawlins County earned a three-point lead (6-9) when St. Francis was called for an illegal set. The margin widened a bit after two hitting errors by the Lady Indians and an ace serve by RC's Leitner (7-12). When a St. Francis attack hit the net on the next volley, the Lady Buffs held a six-point advantage (7-13). The Lady Indians trimmed the margin to three (11-14) with the help of three attack errors and a missed serve by the Lady Buffs. The margin again grew to five, but Ashlee Orth served up an ace to move the score to 16-19. After a St. Francis attack error, Emily Elfers recorded a good stuff block on Singateh, and the play seemed to motivate the Lady Indians. A RC attack error was followed by a misplay of an Elfers attack. The Lady Indians pulled within one point (19-20), and the play triggered a RC time-out. Unfortunately, the Lady Indians missed their next serve to end the run. A Rawlins County net violation allowed St. Francis to pull with one point again (20-21). This time, RC responded with kills by Singateh and Leitner. Another hitting error by the Lady Indians moved the scoreboard to 20-24. Katie Schmid recorded a kill on the next volley, but the Lady Indians missed the final serve of the game. St. Francis lost Rawlins County 21-25 in game one.
The Lady Indians missed their first serve of game two. A net violation and a Rawlins County ace resulted in a 1-4 deficit. A kill by McKenzie Taylor and two miscues by RC tied the game at 4-all. When a RC attack hit the net, St. Francis took their first lead of the evening (5-4). Kills by McKenzie Taylor and Emily Elfers extended the lead to three points (7-4). RC trimmed the Lady Indian lead to one twice after a Leitner kill (7-6) and after a stuff block (8-7). A missed serve by RC was followed by a Kyla Bandel dump-set and a Kylie Sherlock kill to extend the lead to 11-7. The teams traded missed serves and attack errors for a bit until a Singateh spike of an over-passed ball tied the match at 13-all. Elfers recorded an important kill on the next volley to preserve the St. Francis lead. Again, the teams traded miscues for a while. Bandel and Schmid earned kills during the exchange, but several attack errors and a RC stuff tied the game at 18-all. Rawlins County took the lead on a St. Francis setting error and an attack error on the next two volleys (18-20). After an RC missed serve and attack error, the Lady Buffs again hit out-of-bounds twice to return the Lady Indians to the lead (22-20). With the game nearing completion, the Lady Indians missed another serve. Rawlins County followed with a kill and ace serve to lead 22-23. After a St. Francis time-out, the Lady Indians mis-judged, and did not play, the next serve. The ball landed deep but inside the court for another RC point. Even though the Lady Buffs missed their final serve, a tip to the middle of the St. Francis defense ended the game. St. Francis lost game two 23-25.
St. Francis never led in the Wallace County match. Wallace County kept the Lady Indians scrambling on defense attempting to keep the Lady Wildcat offense from scoring. Wallace County's Raines opened game one with three consecutive kills. A kill and an ace by Emily Elfers helped, but Elfers missed her second serve (3-5). Wallace County missed consecutive service attempts, but the Lady Indians' miscues did not allow them to take advantage. A McKayla Taylor kill trimmed the margin to 6-8, and the Lady Indians pulled within one on a Wallace County error. A Elfers' stuff again resulted in a one-point margin a bit later (9-10). The next eleven points all belonged to the Lady Wildcats behind some effective serving by Kriegh and kills by Pletcher, Dinkel, and Raines. Trailing 10-21, McKenzie Taylor recorded a kill to stop the extended WC run. St. Francis lost game one 14-25.
A missed serve by Wallace County, and kills by McKayla Taylor and Emily Elfers, resulted in a 3-5 score early in game two. Wallace County scored four unanswered points (3-9) before missing another serve. Sydney Sundstrom and Kylie Sherlock each recorded kills, but the deficit remained 6 points until St. Francis missed a service attempt (6-13). Wallace County extended the lead to 6-17 after several passing errors by the Lady Indians. The Lady Indians trimmed the gap to nine points (13-22), and lost 14-25 in game two. Wallace County advanced to 14-2 with the victory.
In junior varsity action, the Lady Indians were defated by Rawlins County in three games, 25-21; 12-25; 8-15. The junior varsity also lost to Wallace County 17-25; 14-25.
The Lady Indians will play Idalia in St. Francis on Thursday, September 18.
