Lady Indians Place 3rd in Gove County Classic
The Lady Indians played well throughout the day Saturday, September 10, and earned a third place finish in the Gove County Volleyball Classic. The tournament was held at two sites; Wheatland High School and Grinnell Middle School. Eight teams competed in the tournament including Cheylin, Decatur Community, Golden Plains, Greeley County, Quinter, St. Francis, Weskan, and Wheatland-Grinnell.
State-ranked Wheatland-Grinnell won the tournament defeating Quinter in the championship game 25-15, 25-16. Wheatland was 5-0 for the day.
Golden Plains
In their first match of pool play, St. Francis competed with Golden Plains (GP). The match-up was an even one characterized by back and forth action for three sets. St. Francis earned an early 6-2 lead picking up kills by Emileigh Dinkel and Zoe Sundstrom. Golden Plains answered with consecutive kills, and the game became tied a 6-all on a Lady Indian passing error. A tip by Sundstrom and a GP hitting error put St. Francis back in the lead (8-6). A kill and two aces by GP, plus a few Lady Indian miscues, soon placed GP back in front 9-13. Back-to back kills by Jessica Confer and Katie Schmid moved the score to 12-13, but GP responded with a kill off an attempted block. Dinkel's kill trimmed the margin to 14-16, but then Golden Plains scored three straight points on a dump-set, a kill off a block, and an ace serve (14-19). The Lady Indians would not recover. Golden Plains scored their final five points on kills (the final three by Schiltz) to win game one 19-25.
Zoe Sundstrom opened game two with a kill. Hanna Bracelin followed with one of her own to give the Lady Indians a 2-1 lead before GP's Miller tied the contest. Both teams committed several hitting errors over the next few volleys, but consecutive kills by Katie Schmid eventually moved the scoreboard to 9-5 and triggered a Golden Plains time-out. After the time-out, the Lady Bulldogs were called for a lift, but then GP responded with five consecutive points, all coming on Lady Indian miscues, to tie the game (10-10). A deep-tip by Bracelin stopped the run, but GP scored on the next volley with a deep-tip of their own. The lead would change nine more times before the game would conclude. After being called for a lift, St.Francis trailed 16-19. Golden Plains was then called for four hits. Bracelin followed with an ace and Zoe Sundstrom's kill tied the match again at 19-all. Leading 22-23 after an ace serve, GP missed their service attempt tying the game at 23. The final two points came on an attack error by GP and a passing error on a serve by Madi Tice. St. Francis won game two 26-24.
The deciding game was close, but the Lady Indians earned nine kills and only allowed three. St. Francis trailed 5-7 after a passing error, but the Lady Indians eventually took an 8-7 lead on a GP hitting error and never trailed again. St. Francis forged an 11-8 lead on a deep-tip by Hanna Bracelin, an ace by Zoe Sundstrom, and a GP attack error. Consecutive aces by Madi Tice extended the lead to 14-10. An service ace by Lauren Johnson advanced the margin to five points (17-12). After a couple GP points, Taighe Weeter's consecutive aces and an over-pass kill by Bracelin moved the score to 21-14. Sundstom, Bracelin, and Lauren Johnson all recorded kills in the closing points. St. Francis won the deciding match 25-19 over a scrappy Golden Plains team.
Greeley County
St. Francis trailed 1-4 early in the first game of the Greeley County match. Several Greeley County (GC) hitting errors, and two aces by Jessica Confer, allowed the Lady Indians to earn a 8-5 lead. Even though Zoe Sundstrom recorded two kills in close sequence, GC trimmed the deficit to 10-9. Consecutive kills by Katie Schmid and an ace by Madi Tice gave the Lady Indians a five-point advantage, 14-9. Greeley County pulled within three points (18-15) at one point, but a stuff block by Lindsey Johnson seemed to change the momentum. A strong kill by Schmid and two more aces by Tice sealed the 25-18 win for the Lady Indians.
Neither team hit with real power in the second game. St. Francis recorded 5 kills to two for Greeley County. Four of St. Francis' kills came early in the game with Hanna Bracelin recording two and Zoe Sundstrom two to give the Lady Indians a 6-3 advantage. Greeley County never led in the game. Both teams played a defensive battle with long volleys and scrambling defensive plays. St. Francis led 17-10, but then gave up three consecutive aces before winning game two 25-13 by capitalizing on miscues by the Lady Jackrabbits.
Quinter
Quinter played very well in game one. The Lady Bulldogs recorded ten kills in the game; St. Francis had only four. St. Francis led 2-0 after an ace by Lauren Johnson and a Lady Bulldog hitting error. Four quick aggressive kills (two by Sarah Bird) put the Lady Indians behind for good (3-6). A stuff block by Quinter's Peyton Havlas was answered by a kill by Lindsey Johnson, but then the Lady Bulldogs scored three consecutive points to lead 6-12 before missing a serve. The margin grew to 9-18 before a deep-tip by Hanna Bracelin stopped the bleeding. Quinter recorded five kills as they scored their next seven points. St. Francis lost game one to a hot Quinter team 14-25.
Quinter took an early lead (2-4) in game two earning three kills (two by Havlas and one by Kylie Crist). A stuff block by Jessica Confer tied the game at 4-all. After trading missed serves, St. Francis moved out to a three-point (8-5) lead after three Quinter miscues. Strong serves by Zoe Sundstrom help the Lady Indians gain some momentum and earn a 13-6 lead. During the five-point St. Francis run, Katie Schmid recorded a kill and Sundstrom an ace. Two kills by Payton Havlas narrowed the advantage to 16-12, but St. Francis responded with back-to-back kills by Schmid and Confer. Lauren Johnson and Schmid (2) recorded kills as St. Francis scored on four of the final five volleys. St. Francis won game two 25-15
St. Francis only led once in game three (1-0). Momentum swings were the norm with both teams scoring on more than one extend run, but the Lady Indians could never regain the lead. Quinter jumped out to a 1-6 advantage. A kill by Sundstrom, and several Lady Bulldog errors, allowed St. Francis to close the gap to 5-7. A Lady Indian four-point run, which included an ace by Jessica Confer and a kill by Katie Schmid, tied the game at 11-all. Sarah Bird answered with a kill for Quinter. A seven-point Quinter run, fueled by six Lady Indian miscues, and a kill by Crist, put the game nearly out of reach (14-21). Several strong serves by Hanna Bracelin and some good defensive play by the Lady Indians resulted in a late four-point run narrowing the deficit to 20-22. The margin became one point (22-23) on a Quinter setting error. Kylie Crist sealed the Quinter win with consecutive kills on the final two volleys. Quinter won the deciding game 22-25.
Wheatland-Grinnell
Recording a 2-1 record in pool play, the Lady Indians earned the #2 seed in bracket play from Pool B and were placed against the #1 team from Pool A - the Wheatland-Grinnell Lady Thunderhawks. The defending state champions in Class 1A - Division II made short work of the Lady Indians. Though the Lady Indians played hard and competed aggressively, the #2 ranked (by Kansas Volleyball Association) Lady Thunderhawks easily defeated St. Francis in two sets. St. Francis never led in game one, and only recorded three kills (one each by Hanna Bracelin, Lindsey Johnson, and Madi Tice) in game one. Meanwhile the Lady Thunderhawks recorded 17 kills from a variety of hitters and took a 12-25 win in game one.
The Lady Indians capitalized on three attack errors by W-G and a stuff by Hanna Bracelin to take a 4-0 lead in game two. The Lady Indians hung close for a while and trailed by only one (8-9), before the Lady Thunderhawks got their attack game rolling. Wheatland-Grinnell recorded eight kills in the next 18 volleys to take a 10-25 win.
Wheatland-Grinnell recorded five wins during the day and defeated Quinter in the championship match, 25-15, 25-16.
Decatur Community - 3rd Place Match
St. Francis defeated Decatur Community (DC) in the third-place match.The match exhibited scrambling defenses by both teams, but St. Francis' superior offensive strength proved to be the difference in the match. Though both teams had extended runs in game one, St. Francis recorded 11 kills to Decatur Community's four. DC earned an early 1-5 lead with a four-point run capitalizing on Lady Indian miscues. Another four-point run a bit later advanced the score to 3-10 in favor of the Lady Red Devils. St. Francis was not about to quit, however, and responded with a five-point run of their own. The run included two kills by Lauren Johnson, a stuff and kill by Lindsey Johnson, and an ace by Hanna Bracelin. The run triggered a DC time-out. Two more kills by Lauren Johnson moved the score to 11-12. A passing error on another strong hit by Johnson tied the contest. Oberlin's Erin Carter then sandwiched a kill between two more of Lauren's kills, but the Lady Indians had finally taken the lead 14-13. Three consecutive DC hitting errors extended the advantage to 17-13 before Brittany Wesley recorded a kill for the Lady Red Devils. Consecutive kills by Bracelin and a free-ball kill by Jessica Confer resulted in a 21-16 margin. Then it was the Red Devils turn. Five consecutive errors by the Lady Indians allowed the game to become tied at 21-all. The DC run was halted by a DC attack error. Bracelin and Zoe Sundstrom each recorded a kill to score the final two points of the match. St. Francis won game one 25-22.
Hanna Bracelin recorded two early kills and Zoe Sundstom one to give the Lady Indians a 4-2 advantage in game two. DC then mounted a four-point run fueled by three consecutive aces by Brittany Wesley. Lauren Johnson's kill tied the game at 6-all. Katie Schmid's kill gave St. Francis the lead 9-8. Two Lady Indian errors put the Red Devils back in front, but then the Lady Indians reeled off four consecutive points finalizing with a Katie Schmid kill, a DC attack error, a stuff by Jessica Confer, and an ace by Madi Tice (13-10). Another five-point run triggered by a kills by Schmid, Bracelin, and Confer, as well as two aces by Lauren Johnson moved the scoreboard to 18-11. St. Francis held on for a 25-18 win in game two. The win gave St. Francis a third place finish in the Gove County Classic.
The Lady Indians will play Rawlins County and Wallace County in Atwood on Tuesday, September 13, at 4:00 p.m.
