JH Girls Compete In NWKL Tourney
The Northwest Kansas League Junior High Volleyball Tournament was held at two sites on Tuesday, October 18. The A-Team Tournament was held in Sharon Springs and the B-Team Tournament was held in Hoxie.
B-Team
The Lady Indian B-Team girls lost all three matches of pool play at Hoxie. The B-Team girls lost their first game of pool play to Hoxie 6-25, 20-25. In their second match, the Lady Indians lost to Dighton 17-25, 14-25. Wallace County was the opponent in the final pool play match. The Lady Indians lost to the Lady Wildcats by scores of 10-25, 16-25. With three pool play losses, the Lady Indians did not advance to bracket play in the B-Team tournament.
A-Team
The Lady Indian A-Team competed well throughout the day earning two wins in pool play and advancing to the championship bracket competition. In their first match of the tournament, the Lady Indians defeated Dighton 25-21, 25.15. Their second opponent was Wallace County. The Lady Indians defeated the Lady Wildcats 25-17. 25-10. In their final match of pool play, St. Francis matched up against #1 seeded Hoxie. The Lady Indians lost to Hoxie 23-25, 12-25. The 2-1 pool play record advanced the Lady Indians into championship bracket play where they met Rawlins County. The Lady Buffs eaked out a close win over the Lady Indians, 23-25, 20-25 and the Lady Indians were eliminated.
Dighton
Dighton jumped out to a 1-6 lead in game one before a kill by Talexa Weeter and two aces by Mia Morrow narrowed the gap to 4-6. A few strong serves, including an ace, by Dighton's McKenzie Whipple, began to stretch the deficit again. Soon the score stood at 8-17 in favor of the Lady Hornets. A ace by Ellee Krien, a kill by Emma Johnson, and two aces by Morrow helped trim the deficit to 16-19 before Dighton called a time-out. Three volleys later, a kill by Weeter tied the match at 19-all. The Lady Indians had fought back from being nine points down. St. Francis took a 21-20 lead on a missed serve by the Lady Hornets. A back-row kill by Hadleigh Hilt moved the scoreboard to 22-21. Two Dighton miscues were followed by a Johnson kill to seal the 25-21 win.
The Lady Indians confidence continued to increase, and as it did, their execution also improved. St. Francis earned an 11-0 lead in set two capitalizing on consistent serving by Emma Johnson (2 aces) and kills by Talexa Weeter (2), and Jordyn Faulkender. Leading 12-2, St. Francis missed a serve, and Dighton reeled off six consecutive points behind Whipple's aggressive serving. The Lady Indians were about to make another run. Behind steady serving by Kattie Wurm, St. Francis earned five kills by Johnson, one by Mia Morrow, and scored on two passing errors on attacks by Morrow and Hadleigh Hilt to widen the advantage to 22-10. St. Francis won set two 25-15.
Wallace County
The first set against Wallace County was very close. With both teams earning leads, the point spread was never more than two until late in the set. St. Francis trailed until an ace by Elle Krien tied the match at 6-all. The Lady Indians fell behind again until a WC missed serve tied the match at 8-all. A kill by Talexa Weeter and a deep-tip by Emma Johnson gave St. Francis a narrow 10-9 lead. The Lady Wildcats earned a 12-13 advantage before a kill by Kattie Wurm again tied the set at 13. St. Francis then went on a 10-point run, following consistent serves by Wurm. The Lady Indians only earned one kill during the run (Johnson), but scrambling defense and efficient play by the Lady Indians eventually led to several WC mistakes. The Lady Indian run ended with a net violation after the margin grew to 23-14. St. Francis won set one 25-17.
The Lady Wildcats were never really in the second set. After WC's Tori Springsteel earn two aces during her first three serves, the Lady Indians exploded to a 23-4 advantage. Emma Johnson served 13 consecutive points (three aces) before WC kill (off-the-net) stopped the run. During the run, Ellee Krien, Kattie Wurm, and Johnson (two) earned kills. The next Lady Indian run of ten points was fueled by strong serves by Mia Morrow and included kills by Johnson (two) and Jordyn Faulkender and was highlighted by three Morrow aces. Wallace County put together a five-point run just before the set closed at 25-10.
Hoxie
St. Francis earned a 3-0 lead in game one scoring on two Hoxie miscues and an ace by Emma Johnson. Hoxie then reeled off runs of 6 and 4 points to lead 5-11. The Lady Indians closed to 7-11 on a kill by Talexa Weeter, and then moved within 3 on a Hoxie error. A four-point Lady Indian run including a deep-tip by Johnson, an over-pass kill by Jordyn Faulkender, and an ace by Mia Morrow, moved St. Francis with in one 16-17. Another four-point run, served by Faulkender, gave the Lady Indians a 20-18 lead. Hoxie responded with kills by Lauren Spellman and Paiton Rogers to tie the set. Two more Hoxie kills and an ace by Rogers placed Hoxie at a 21-23 advantage. Hoxie won game one 23-25.
The Lady Indians played tough against Hoxie in set one, but had difficulty closing out vplleys in set two. The Lady Indians gave up four aces to fall behind 1-6. The Lady Indians closed within two (4-6) but then the Hoxie girls earned two runs of 5 points each to lead 5-16 before a kill by Emma Johnson stopped the second run. The first Hoxie run included four aces by Lauren Spillman. Hoxie followed with two kills by Baylee McKenna and finalized the game at 12-25.
Rawlins County
St. Francis jumped out to a 6-0 lead in set one getting two aces by Emma Johnson and a kill by Talxea Weeter enroute. Several attack errors by the Lady Indians soon tied the contest at 8-8. St. Francis again took a small advantage (13-9) after two over-pass kills by Johnson. A dig and kill by Weeter moved the score to 14-11 before the Lady Buffaloes scored five unanswered points to lead 15-16. A spike by Jordyn Faulkender tied the set at 17-all. A kill (off-the-net) and an ace by Sadie Sramek placed Rawlins County ahead 18-20. St. Francis responded with a deep-tip kill by Johnson and an ace by Weeter. A passing error on Weeter's next serve gave St. Francis a slim 21-20 lead. RC earned a kill on the next volley, and a Lady Indian communication error placed the Lady Buffs back in front 22-21. St. Francis never regained the lead, and lost game one 23-25.
Set two as nearly as close. Kattie Wurm earned a free-ball kill to open the set, but RC scored the next five points. A five-point St. Francis run triggered by two aces by Mia Morrow and a kill by Emma Johnson place the Lady Indian up 6-5. The margin would not be more than one point until a three-point RC run ending with an ace by Emmersyn Higley placed the Lady Indians at a 12-14 disadvantage. After a SF missed serve, RC scored six more to lead 13-20. Two kills by Talexa Weeter, one by Wurm, and an ace by Mia Morrow trimmed the deficit to 17-21, but the Lady Indians could get no closer. Though Wurm recorded two more kills late in the contest, the Lady Indians lost to the Lady Buffs, 20-25.
The volleyball season is now complete for the Lady Indians. Basketball is just around the corner.
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