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Girls Play Well at NWKL Tourney

by Kent Kechter on October 17, 2016

The Lady Indian volleyball team performed well throughout the day on Saturday, October 15, at the Northwest Kansas League Volleyball Tournament in Atwood. The Lady Indians won two matches and lost two during the competition. The first match of the day pitted the Lady Indians against the Wallace County Lady Wildcats. The Lady Indians defeated Wallace County in three sets 23-25, 25-18, 25-17. Dighton was the opponent in the second match of pool play. The Lady Indians lost to a strong Dighton team 11-25, 12-25. In the final match of pool play. the Lady Indians defeated Decatur Community 25-15, 25-8. St. Francis placed second in their pool and advanced to the championship bracket where they were paired against the #1 seeded Hoxie Lady Indians. St. Francis played well against Hoxie, but lost in three sets 28-26, 19-25, 18-25. Hoxie later defeated Dighton in two sets to win the Northwest Kansas League Championship. Click here for complete tournament results.

Wallace County

The Lady Indians arrived ready to play and jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead over Wallace County (WC) earning two kills, one each by Katie Schmid and Jessica Confer, and a stuff block by Hanna Bracelin before the Lady Wildcats stopped the run with a tip-kill. Another kill by Schmid moved the score to 7-1, but then the Lady Wildcats closed within four (8-4) before an ace by Madi Tice and kills by Hannah Zimbal and Schmid slowed WC's momentum. A missed serve stopped the Lady Indian run at 11-5. Soon, Wallace County was within one, 11-10, and St. Francis took a time-out. A six-point run by the Lady Cats eventually placed the Lady Indians at a 14-18 deficit. Confer earned a kill, but then the Lady Cats scored three more stretching the margin to 16-21. A dump-set kill by Bracelin finally stopped the rally. A tip-kill by Confer, a stuff by Bracelin, and kills by Schmid and Zimbal helped the Lady Indians tie the match at 22-all. Wallace County answered with a kill, but a Bracelin stuff tied the match again. A St. Francis attack error and a kill by WC's Hannah Pletcher finalized the match. St. Francis lost set one 23-25.

Zoe Sundstrom opened game two with a kill and an ace serve. Several WC errors allowed the Lady Indians to earn a 6-3 lead. A WC lift after a block by Zimbal and a kill by Katie Schmid put St. Francis in front 8-3 and triggered a WC time-out. Wallace County earned a quick point after returning to the floor, but a Schmid kill, a Bracelin deep-tip, and a WC passing error on a tip by Zimbal extended the margin to 11-4. Three consecutive errors by the Lady Indians reduced the advantage a bit (11-7), and St. Francis called time-out. After the discussion, the Lady Indians scored eight consecutive points to move the scoreboard to 19-7. Four of the points came on WC errors, but others came on a free-ball kill by Jayden McGinnis, a kill by Jessica Confer, and two aces by Madi Tice. Then, Wallace County took the momentum. Runs of 5, 3, and 3 moved the Lady Cats within three points, 21-18. It was as close as WC would get, as four consecutive errors by WC allowed the Lady Indians to earn a victory in set two 25-18. 

St. Francis opened the deciding set with a 6-point run earning kills by Zoe Sundstrom, Jessica Confer (two), and a stuff by Hanna Bracelin enroute. A aggressive kill by the Lady Cats cut the advantage to 6-3 before Bracelin earned another stuff block. A three-point run ending with a kill by WC's Stephani Noone cut the lead to 8-6. An ace off-the-net by Carli Haslip moved the Lady Cats within one, 9-8. St. Francis then scored a three-point run via a WC missed serve, a kill by Schmid, and a WC attack error (12-8). The Lady Indians extended the lead back to six (17-11) getting kills from Sundstrom (two) and Confer, as well as another stuff by Bracelin. Three SF miscues and a powerful spike by Hanna Pletcher quickly trimmed the advantage to two (17-15). After a St. Francis time-out, Sundstrom and Zimbal answered with back-to-back kills (19-15). Wallace County would get no closer as their mistakes mounted. Kills by Schmid and Sundstrom helped seal the 25-17 win.

Dighton

The Dighton Lady Hornets defeated the Lady Indians in two sets. In set one, the Lady Indians had trouble defending the power hitting of sophomore Ella Roberts who gathered 6 kills in the game. The Lady Indians only earned five kills as a team during set one. Roberts wasn't the only strong attack threat the Lady Hornets had; Jordan Speer and Sara Cramer also nailed some powerful spikes. Dighton opened the match with a 7-point run before a kill by Katie Schmid finally got St. Francis on the scoreboard. Digton's Crystal Hampton answered with a spike, and the Hornets pushed the lead to 1-10 before missing a serve. Unfortunately, the Lady Indians also missed their service attempt. A three-point run including a kill by Schmid and Jessica Confer was the only run of three-or more points the Lady Indians could muster during the set. The run trimmed the deficit to 9-17, but two more Lady Hornet runs soon completed the set. St. Francis lost game one, 11-25.

Set two was much the same. The Lady Indian's offense generated three kills during the set. Jordan Speer had six for the Lady Hornets along with two stuff blocks.. St. Francis jumped out to a 3-1 lead on three consecutive errors by the Lady Hornets. A kill and ace by Jessica Confer moved the score to 5-2, before a missed serve slowed the momentum. A deep- tip by Hanna Bracelin and a tip-kill by Zoe Sundstrom increased the Lady Indians' lead to 8-4. From that point, the Lady Hornets took over. A five-point run placed the Lady Hornets at a 9-11 advantage. Three more runs of 3, 4, and 7 points quickly closed the set at 12-25. the Lady Hornets gathered 3 aces during the final run, all served by Sara Cramer.

Decatur Community

St. Francis earned a 4-0 lead to begin game one earning kills from Jessica Confer, Katie Schmid (two), and a Decatur Community (DC) attack error. Schmid's third kill of the game moved the score to 6-1, but then DC rallied within two (6-4). Back-to-back kills by Schmid and Hannah Zimbal advanced the St. Francis lead to 9-4, but a missed serve stopped the Lady Indians run at three points. A series of passing and setting errors by the Lady Indians soon allowed DC back within two (10-8). The Lady Indians then won seven of the next ten volleys to take a comfortable 18-10 advantage. During the exchange, Madi Tice served two aces, Confer and Schmid recorded kills, and Hanna Bracelin earned a stuff block. The Lady Indians increased the lead eventually win 25-15.

Decatur Community was never in the next set. St. Francis used runs of 3, 4, 3, 9, and 3 points to lead 22-7 The Lady Red Devils scored one three-point run early in the contest. The Lady Indians received contributions from everyone and earned 12 kills during the set. Earning kills in set two were Jessica Confer (3), Katie Schmid (2),  Jayden McGinnis (2), Zoe Sundstrom (3), and Hanna Bracelin (2). Madi Tice's strong serves helped set up the 9-point run for the Lady Indians. St. Francis won game two 26-8.

Hoxie

Earning a 2-1 record in pool play, the Lady Indians earned the #2 seed out of Pool B and advanced to championship bracket play. St. Francis played the #1 seed from Pool A, Hoxie. The match was a good one!  St. Francis played very well, but lost to the eventual NWKL champion in three sets. The sets were highly competitive with both teams finding it difficult to earn more than one or two points at a time.

In game one, Hanna Bracelin's stuff block tied the score at 3-all. Hoxie won the next point on a nearly impossible save from out-of-bounds that traveled down the length of the net for a point. St. Francis answered with consecutive kills by Katie Schmid and Hannah Zimbal, before a Hoxie stuff tied the set again. The stuff began a four-point Hoxie run that placed the Lady Indians at a 5-8 deficit. Zoe Sundstrom's tip ended the run. After an exchange of points, the Lady Indians fell behind by four (8-12), but a few Hoxie miscues and some strong serves by Jessica Confer eventually helped tie the set at 13-all. It was the 6th tie of the set. An ace by Confer and a kill by Schmid helped St. Francis forge a 16-13 lead, but Hoxie rallied with a three-point run on two kills by Erin Carter and an ace serve. The set was tied once again at 16-16. There would be 15 ties in set one. After ties at 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, and 23, an over-pass kill by Katie Schmid gave St. Francis a narrow 24-23 lead. Hoxie answered with a kill by Carter (off-the-net), and then took the lead on an aggressive kill also by Carter. After a St. Francis time-out, the Lady Indians tied the match at 25-all when Carter's next spike landed out-of-bounds. Hoxie's Brynn Niblock hammered a kill to give Hoxie a 25-26 advantage, but Bracelin's dump-set found a hole in the Hoxie defense to tie the game at 26. The game was eventually decided when one of Carter's attacks struck the net and Zoe Sundstrom hammered an over-pass on the next volley for a St. Francis win. St. Francis won game one, 28-26.

St. Francis jumped out to a 6-1 lead in set two capitalizing on a few Hoxie attack errors, a kill by Jessica Confer, and a dig by Taighe Weeter that led to a Katie Schmid kill. Hoxie then reeled off seven unanswered points, many coming as a result of Lady Indian passing errors. After a St. Francis time-out, Schimd earned a kill to stop the run and get the Lady Indians back within one (7-8). Two more Hoxie kills were followed by a kill by Jayden McGinnis. The next Hoxie run of five points, was initiated by a Lady Indian missed serve, and the run placed St. Francis at a 9-16 disadvantage. The teams exchanged points for a while, but eventually a three-point run triggered by a Schmid kill, a Bracelin ace, and a Hoxie attack error moved the Lady Indians within six (16-22). Another three-point run, beginning with a Hoxie missed serve, included a kill by Zoe Sundstrom and a stuff by Hanna Zimbal. The small run closed the deficit to 19-23, but the Lady Indians could not overcome the large early deficit and lost game two 19-25.

Again, the Lady Indians earned an early lead in game three. Leading 5-2, the Lady Indians gave up a five-point run to trail 5-7 before the run ended on a deep tip by Bracelin. St. Francis then missed their service attempt. A few volleys later, a kill by Zoe Sundstrom tied the game at 9-all. Another five-point Hoxie run placed St. Francis at a 9-14 deficit. The Lady Indians fought their way back and moved within one-point (15-16) on an ace by Jessica Confer. Hoxie called time-out, returned to the floor, and scored on an powerful attack by Erin Carter. With the Lady Indians trailing 17-19, Hoxie completed another 5-point run to put the game away. The run included kills by Hoxie's Nicole Heim and Lilly Shamberger and three passing errors by the Lady Indians. St. Francis lost to a good Hoxie team in the deciding set, 18-25. 

The Lady Indians will play in the Sub-State Volleyball Tournament in Quinter on Saturday, October 22.

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