Girls Lose Two in Nebraska
The St. Francis High School volleyball teams traveled to Benkelman, Nebraska, on Tuesday, September 22, to play the Dundy County - Stratton Lady Tigers and the Chase County Lady Longhorns. The Lady Indians suffered two varsity losses against good teams from the bordering state. St. Francis was defeated by Dundy County - Stratton in the first varsity match 13-25, 23-25. Chase County handed the Lady Indians a 12-25, 10-25 loss.
In junior varsity action, St. Francis played very well and defeated Dundy County - Stratton 25-17, 24-26, 15-8 and fell just short in their competition with Chase County, 25-22, 25-17.
In varsity action against Dundy County - Stratton (DCS), the Lady Indians tied the game at 2-all on a kill by Hanna Bracelin and a hitting error by DCS. The Lady Tigers then scored 4 unanswered points before missing a serve. Another four-point run triggered a St. Francis time-out at 3-10, but the Lady Tigers increased the margin to 3-12 before an attack error halted the outburst. The Lady Indians began to play a bit better in the latter portion of the game, and the eight-point deficit was maintained until the score reached 12-20. During the mid-game volleys, Lauren Johnson served an ace, and Bracelin, Jessica Confer, Zoe Sundstrom, and Madi Tice all scored kills. The score advanced to 12-21 on an aggressive kill by DCS's Aubrey Frederick. St. Francis answered with a dump-set by Lauren Johnson, but the Lady Tigers scored four consecutive points, including two kills and an ace, to close the game at 13-25.
Game two was much closer. Each team owned four-point leads during the contest, and each team had runs of three or more points four times each. St. Francis led 3-0 early in the contest. A tip-kill and strong serve by Zoe Sundstrom moved the score to 6-3. DCS eventually tied the contest at 7-all on a stuff block. A dump-set by Lauren Johnson gave the Lady Indians a two-point advantage (10-8), but soon an extended volley ended with an over-pass kill by the Lady Tigers to re-tie the game at 10. Lindsey Johnson's kill put St. Francis in front, and a few miscues by the Lady Tigers widened the margin to 14-10. Consecutive powerful spikes by Aubrey Frederick moved DCS within one (16-15) before the Lady Tigers missed a serve. Unfortunately, the Lady Indians missed their serve also, and soon DCS took a 23-18 lead on a St. Francis hitting error, a no-play, a stuff, and two ace serves. A stuff-block by Jessica Confer stopped the run. St. Francis pulled within two (22-24) on a ace by Bracelin, but the Lady Indians could never recover and lost game two 23-25.
Chase County (CC) proved to be fundamentally sound as usual, rarely making an error and exhibiting excellent passing, setting, and attack skills. The Lady Longhorns jumped out to a quick 2-8 lead, but a nice kill by Katie Schmid stopped the CC five-point run. Another run of five points moved the score to 5-12. Two more CC runs of three and four points moved the scoreboard to 9-19. St. Francis lost game one 12-25.
In game two, the Lady Indians led 4-1 capitalizing on a kill by Lauren Johnson and an ace by Hanna Bracelin. After Bracelin's missed serve, the Lady Longhorns reeled off a 17-1 scoring run to lead 5-18 before the run ended on an off-the-block kill by Emileigh Dinkel. St. Francis lost game two 10-25.
The Lady Indians will play Cheylin and Decatur Community in Bird City on Tuesday, September 27. Matches begin at 4:30 p.m.
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