Girls Play Well In Oberlin Tourney
JV Wins Championship!
The St. Francis Lady Indians played very competively in the Oberlin Invitational Volleyball Tournament on Saturday, October 1. The Lady Indians junior varsity team won all four of their matches enroute to winning the team championship of the Oberlin Invitational. St. Francis defeated Decatur Community (25-12, 25-17), Hoxie (25-20, 25-16), Norton (25-21, 14-25, 25-13), and Rawlins County (25-22, 11-25, 15-8). Congratulations to Coach Shaylin Zweygardt and team members Perla Yanez, Hannah Zimbal, Jayden McGinnis, Nicole Bonsignore, Karly Bandel, Alondra Gomez, Audrey Meyer, and Christina Stafford on your tournament championship.
Placing 2nd in the junior varsity competition was Norton. Third place went to Rawlins County. Hoxie placed 4th and Decatur Community 5th.
A complete listing of the junior varsity scores from the tournament follows: Norton defeated Rawlins Co. 25-17, 25-20; St. Francis defeated Oberlin 25-12, 25-17; Norton defeated Hoxie 25-12, 25-17; Rawlins Co. defeated Oberlin 25-11, 26-24; St. Francis defeated Hoxie 25-20, 25-16; Norton defeated Oberlin 25-4, 25-20; Rawlins Co. defeated Hoxie 26-24, 25-23; St. Francis defeated Norton 25-21, 14-25, 15-13; St. Francis defeated Rawlins Co. 25-22, 11-25, 15-8; and Hoxie defeated Oberlin 25-23, 25-9.
The Lady Indians varsity team lost to good teams from Norton (15-25, 15-25) and Hoxie (14-25, 25-20, 21-25) before rallying to defeat Decatur Communtiy (25-20 25-19) and Rawlins County (20-25, 27-25, 25-23). Norton later defeated Hoxie for the tournament championship. Action throughout the day was very competitive with all teams having good balance in strength and skills. Hoxie placed second in the tournament while the Lady Indians earned third place. Rawlins County placed 4th and Decatur Community 5th.
Norton
The Norton Lady Bluejays jumped out to a quick 0-4 lead in game one earning three kills in the run. A kill by Zoe Sundstrom stopped the Norton run, and a stuff by Lindsey Johnson trimmed the deficit in half. Unfortunately, a missed serve started another Norton three-point run that was eventually halted by a kill by Hanna Bracelin. St. Francis then reeled off five consecutive points terminating with an over-pass kill by Bracelin to take an 8-7 lead. The run was aided by strong serving by Madi Tice and several Norton miscues. A four-point Norton run, all coming on Lady Indian errors, soon placed the Lady Jays back in front 10-13. Another four-point Norton run, including two aces, moved the score to 12-19 before the Lady Jays missed a service attempt. The Lady Jays followed with a five-point run extending the deficit to 13-24 before Jessica Confer earned a kill in the closing moments. St. Francis lost game one to Norton 15-25.
In game two, the Lady Bluejays jumped out to an early lead (1-4) before a kill by Katie Schmid earned the second St. Francis point. A stuff-block and ace moved the score to 2-7. St. Francis then trimmed the deficit to two (5-7) on an ace by Taighe Weeter and two kills by Jessica Confer. Capitalizing on some strong serves by Caitlyn Cox, the Lady Jays soon increased their advantage to 5-11 before the run ended on a spike by Hanna Bracelin. Confer's ace serve pulled the Lady Indians within four (8-12), but then the Lady Jays earned another four-point run extending the lead to 8-15. Emileigh Dinkel's stuff-block closed the run, and kills by Katie Schmid (2) and Dinkel, plus an ace by Madi Tice, moved the Lady Indians back into contention (13-17). The Lady Jays responded with a six-point run including three kills and an ace to stretch the lead to 13-23 before a deep-tip by Lauren Johnson stopped the onslaught. St. Francis lost game two 15-25.
Hoxie
The match with Hoxie went three sets. In set one, St. Francis played well, but could never put together any exended scoring runs against Hoxie's consistent play. St. Francis had only one run of three consecutive points, while giving up runs of 7, 3, and 8 in the game. Hoxie opened the game with kills by three different players to lead 1-4. After the Lady Indians tied the set at 4-all, Hoxie reeled off a run of 7 consecutive points before a missed serve stopped the runaway. Hoxie then scored on the next three volleys to lead 5-14 before missing another serve attempt. The Lady Indians put together a three-point run, all coming on Hoxie miscues, to close the gap to 9-14. Hoxie answered with an eight-point run ending with kills by Erin Carter and Nicole Heim increasing the deficit to 9-22. Lauren Johnson nailed an aggressive spike to finally stop the run. Even though Hoxie gifted the Lady Indians four points on missed serves, the Lady Indians lost game one 14-25.
In game two, Jessica Confer sandwiched a kill between two kills by Hoxie's Erin Carter to make the score 2-3. A Hoxie four-point run, coming on a missed serve and three passing errors by the Lady Indians placed Hoxie at a 3-7 advantage. Four consectutive kills by by Lauren Johnson soon tied the contest at 9-all. The Lady Indians won 11 of twelve volleys, six ending on kills by Lauren Johnson, to lead 16-10. Successive kills by Hoxie, and a SF blocking error, narrowed the lead to 17-14. Kills by Katie Schmid and Lauren Johnson helped preserve a four lead (21-17) that triggered a Hoxie time-out. After the time-out, Hoxie earned three consecutive kills to close the gap to 21-20 before committing a hitting error. St. Francis scored the last four points of the set on an ace by Hanna Bracelin, two Hoxie attack errors, and a strong hit by Lauren Johnson. The Lady Indians had regained the momentum, winning game two 25-20.
Game three was close throughout with the largest point spread being four points and the set having 5 ties. Hoxie jumped out to a 0-4 lead on four consecutive Lady Indian errors and won by the same margin. An over-pass kill by Hanna Bracelin and a stuff-block by Lindsey Johnson moved the score to 4-5. Consecutive aces by Bracelin tied the match at 7-all, and a well-placed kill by Katie Schmid gave the Lady Indians their first lead in the deciding game (8-7). The lead only lasted for seconds as Hoxie answered with a kill off the net. A SF attack error placed Hoxie back in front. Thought the game was tied at 9, 10, 11, and 12, the Lady Indians could never regain the lead. Hoxie eventually forged a four-point lead (16-20) with several well-placed tip-kills. A stuff by Katie Schmid was followed by a Hoxie attack error placing the Lady Indians within two (18-20), but a missed service attempt and hitting error allowed Hoxie to return to a four-point advantage. Emileigh Dinkel recorded a nice kill moving the score to 19-22, but the Lady Indians could not regain the lead. St. Francis lost to Hoxie in the deciding set 21-25.
Decatur Community
Decatur Community played a scrappy match against the Lady Indians. Set one featured seven ties and an ending margin of five points. The teams battled back-and-forth early, but St. Francis earned an 8-6 advantage on consecutive kills by Jessica Confer and an ace serve. Several good serves by Taighe Weeter coupled with a double stuff by Lindsey Johnson and Emileigh Dinkel gave St. Francis a 12-7 lead. Another Dinkel kill and two passing errors on serves by Lauren Johnson increased the Lady Indians' lead to 15-8. Decatur Community then reeled off 10 consecutive points, most coming on SF mistakes, to take a 15-18 lead. A series of four miscues by the Lady Red Devils allowed St. Francis to regain the lead 19-18, before a tip-kill rolling down the net tied the game for the seventh time. St. Francis responded with two three-point runs to close the contest, winning 25-20. Two of the final three points came on kills by Zoe Sundstrom and Lauren Johnson.
St. Francis led throughout set two, but the Lady Devils were always threatening. St. Francis earned a two-point lead (3-1) on a kill and stuff by Lindsey Johnson and a kill by Zoe Sunstrom. A deep-tip by Hanna Bracelin advanced the lead to three (6-3). After the Lady Indians missed consecutive serves, the Lady Devils narrowed the margin to 7-5, before returning the favor. A Lady Indian three-point run completed with an over-pass kill by Lindsey Johnson and a kill by Sunstrom that ended an extended volley. The Lady Indians now led 10-5. The next four-point run by the Lady Indians ended with a kill by Lauren Johnson and moved the scoreboard to 17-10. The Lady Indians appeared to be taking control of the set. Errors by the Lady Indians on 7 of the next 9 volleys allowed Decatur Community to close within two points (19-17). Consecutive kills by Lindsey Johnson widened the margin to 22-17. Two kills by Lauren Johnson in the final four volleys closed the match at 25-19.
Rawlins County
The Rawlins County and St. Francis teams are closely matched, and each game between the two teams is highly competitive. The final match of tournament for the Lady Indians was no exception. The match went three sets with the widest margin of victory being five points. After being tied 3-3 in game one, Rawlins County (RC) went on a seven-point run to lead 3-10. During the run, the Lady Indians committed several communication and passing errors. Though the Lady Indians tried valiantly, they would never overcome the deficit. A missed serve by RC stopping the run was followed by kills from Lauren Johnson and Jessica Confer and a RC passing error on a strong serve by Hanna Bracelin. The Lady Indians had closed the deficit to 7-10. St. Francis closed within two points twice (12-14 on an ace by Lauren Johnson and 15-17 on a kill by Bracelin) but still trailed 15-19 late in the contest. A three-point SF run, including an off-speed kill by Zoe Sundstrom, a joust won at the net by Confer, and a RC passing error on a hit by Confer, moved the Lady Indians within one point (18-19). Unfortunately, the Lady Indians did not make a play on a ball that landed in-bounds, and the margin again grew to three (18-21). A Rawlins County missed serve (19-20) was followed by an Confer ace (20-21), but the Lady Indians would get no closer. Rawlins County scored four consecutive points to close game one 20-25.
Game two was much the same. St. Francis jumped out to a 4-1 lead terminating with a kill by Katie Schmid. Kills by Schmid, Jessica Confer, and Hanna Bracelin increased the lead to 8-4. A three-point run by Rawlins County, including two coverage errors by the Lady Indians, soon tied the set at 9-all. Another four-point RC run placed the Lady Indians at t 10-13 deficit. A stuff and kill by Schmid reduced the deficit to two (12-14), but another three-point run by the Lady Buffs (all coming on SF errors) increased the deficit again (12-17). It was time for a SF run. The Lady Indians responded with a stuff by Lauren Johnson, an over-pass kill by Emileigh Dinkel, and two aces by Lauren Johnson to tie the game at 17-all. The game became tied eight more times (at 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, and 25) before concluding. Kills by Bracelin, Lindsey Johnson (2), Schmid, and Lauren Johnson, eventually moved the set toward a conclusion. St. Francis missed a serve tying the match at 24-all and then committed a hitting error to give RC the lead (24-25). Kills by Jessica Confer and Emileigh Dinkel (2) closed the game. St. Francis won game two 27-25.
In game three, St. Francis used a five-point run to jump out to a 9-3 lead. During the run Lauren Johnson had a tip-kill and Emileigh Dinkel served two aces. Kills by Katie Schmid (2) and Lindsey Johnson helped advance the score to 13-8. Rawlins County closed the margin to 13-11 on a kill by Abbie Horton. Consecutive kills by Lauren Johnson moved the advantage to four points (16-12). The Lady Indians then committed three passing errors, a setting error, and net violation to hand RC the lead 16-17. A SF three-point run ending with kills by Schmid and Jessica Confer put the Lady Indians back in front 19-17. Consecutive missed serves by the Lady Indians helped tie the set at 21-all and a SF hitting error gave RC a 22-21 lead in the deciding game. After being tied at 22 and 23, a missed serve by the Lady Buffaloes gifted St. Francis a 24-23 advantage. Hanna Bracelin's ace on the next serve sealed a 25-23 win for the Lady Indians.
The following is a complete listing of the varsity scores from the Oberlin Invitational Tournament: Rawlins Co. defeated Oberlin 25-12, 21-25, 25-13; Norton defeated St. Francis 25-15, 25-15; Hoxie defeated Rawlins Co. 25-23, 18-25, 25-15; Norton defeated Oberlin 25-14, 25-12; Hoxie defeated St. Francis 25-14, 22-25, 25-21; Norton defeated Rawlins Co. 25-12, 25-14; St. Francis defeated Oberlin, 25-20, 25-19; Norton defeated Hoxie 25-27, 25-18; St. Francis defeated Rawlins Co. 20-25, 27-25, 25-23; and Hoxie defeated Oberlin 25-15, 25-17.
St. Francis will play Greeley County, in Tribune, on Monday, October 3, at 4:00 p.m.
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