Lady Indians Place 2nd at Gove County Classic
Continuing to show steady improvement, the Lady Indians placed second in the Gove County Classic Volleyball Tournament on Saturday, September 9. The Lady Indians won four of the five matches they played, only losing to Wheatland/Grinnell in the championship match. Complete match results of the volleyball tournament are listed below.
|
Results of Pool Play Matches (Winners denoted in BOLD type) |
||||
| Pool A | Match # | Pool B | ||
|
Wheatland-Grinnell vs Decatur Community |
25-17, 25-22 | 1 | Weskan vs Quinter |
4-25, 20-25 |
| Cheylin vs Golden Plains | 11-15, 25-23, 16-25 | 2 | Greeley County vs St. Francis | 14-25, 7-25 |
| Wheatland-Grinnell vs Cheylin | 25-6, 25-7 | 3 | Quinter vs Greeley County | 25-13, 25-16 |
| Golden Plains vs Decatur Community | 25-21, 25-19 | 4 | Weskan vs St. Francis | 7-24, 16-25 |
| Wheatland-Grinnell vs Golden Plains | 25-9, 25-6 | 5 | Quinter vs St. Francis | 23-25, 26-24, 15-25 |
| Cheylin vs Decatur Community | 26-28, 25-13 | 6 | Weskan vs Greeley County | 25-16, 25-20 |
| Consolation Bracket | |
| Weskan vs Cheylin | 16-25, 18-25 |
| Decatur Community vs Greeley County | 25-21, 25-18 |
|
7th & 8th Place Match Weskan vs Greeley County |
25-17, 25-12 |
|
5th and 6th Place Match Cheylin vs Decatur Community |
25-12, 25-23 |
| Championship Bracket | |
| Wheatland-Grinnell vs Quinter | 25-16, 25-18 |
| St. Francis vs Golden Plains | 25-14, 25-22 |
|
3rd & 4th Place Match Golden Plains vs Quinter |
25-20, 25-20 |
|
Championship Match Wheatland-Grinnell vs St. Francis |
25-15, 25-21 |
Greeley County
The Lady Indians defeated Greeley County in two sets 25-14, 25-7. In the first set, the Lady Indians scored runs of 5, 3, 3, 3, and 6 while limiting the Lady Jackrabbits to only one run of 5 points late in the set. The game opened with St. Francis taking a 5-0 lead on two kills by Lindsey Johnson and three attack errors by Greeley County (GC). An exchange of kills by Emileigh Dinkel and Hannah Brandl moved the score to 6-3. St. Francis then earned a kill and stuff by Hanna Bracelin and a kill by Jessica Confer to extend the lead to 9-3 before committing an attack error. The next Lady Indian run included an ace by Confer and moved the scoreboard to 12-4. St. Francis eventually opened the margin to ten points (17-7) getting kills from Lauren Johnson, Dinkel (2), and Confer along the way. Greeley County used their first time-out to regroup. The Lady Jackrabbits trimmed the margin by one before missing a serve. The Lady Indians then scored six unanswered points to take a 24-9 advantage capitalizing on GC miscues and earning a stuff by Bracelin and an ace by Lindsey Johnson. St. Francis won game one, 25-14.
Game two was much the same with the Lady Indians having full control. The lack of offensive punch by the Lady Rabbits made the match very one-sided. Greeley County did not score more than two consecutive points at any time in the game. After jumping out to a 3-0 lead, the Lady Indians earned a run of 12 straight points to lead 15-1. The run included five aces by Madison Tice, three kills by Hanna Bracelin, and a kill by Lindsey Johnson. The flurry ended on a missed serve. The next SF run of three points included two kills by Jessica Confer (18-2). St. Francis used several substitute players in the latter portion of the match. The final SF run of four points included two aces and and a dump-set kill by Bracelin. St. Francis won game two 25-7.
Weskan
A deep-tip- by Hanna Bracelin and a Lauren Johnson ace gave the Lady Indians an early 3-1 lead in game one. A six-point run by the Lady Indians extended the margin to 9-2. The run was fueled by strong serves by Madison Tice (including two aces) and kills by Jessica Confer and Lindsey Johnson. The next six-point Lady Indian run began with a Weskan missed serve (the first of five in the match) and included two aces by Lindsey Johnson. The Lady Indians now held a 15-3 lead. Three aces by Confer helped trigger the next six-point Lady Indian flurry moving the scoreboard to 20-5. Weskan errors accounted for all but one of the final five points. Emileigh Dinkel recorded a kill to give St. Francis their 24th point. St. Francis won game one 25-7.
Three consecutive kills by Jessica Confer, Hanna Bracelin, and Lindsey Johson plus an ace by Madison Tice gave the Lady Indians a 4-1 lead in the second set. The run was stopped by a missed serve, but Weskan also missed their service attempt. Two aces by Weskan freshman Aly Chanez tied the game at 5-all. A tip by Bracelin and an ace by Confer placed St. Francis back in the lead for good. A deep-tip and a kill by Chanez eventually trimmed the margin to 12-11 and triggered a SF time-out. After returning to the floor, the Lady Indians earned four straight points including an ace and deep-tip by Lauren Johnson and a stuff-block by Lindsey Johnson (16-11). A strong kill by Chanez coupled with two SF miscues reduced the advantage to 16-14 before the next Lady Indian run initiated. The run of six points included three aces by Madison Tice and two kills by Lindsey Johnson. The scoreboard clicked to 22-14. Bracelin's dump-set and kill accounted for the final two points of the match. St. Francis defeated Weskan 25-16.
Quinter
As expected, Quinter proved to be a strong opponent, and the three-game set was close throughout. St. Francis won set one 25-23 with the deciding factor being that Quinter missed 6 serves in the set. Both teams found it difficult to score consecutive points. The set also had four lead changes and ten ties before the victor was decided. St. Francis earned a two-point advantage (6-4) on a kill by Taighe Weeter. A dump-set by Hanna Bracelin restored the two-point advantage (8-6) before the Lady Indians missed a service attempt. An ace by Quinter's Evie Gruenbacher tied the set at 8-all. A missed serve gave the Lady Indians the advantage, but a strong kill by Peyton Havlas retied the set at 9-all. A Bracelin kill moved the score to 11-10, but Kylie Crist's kill for the Lady Bulldogs evened the set at 12. Another missed serve gave St. Francis the advantage, and a kill by Bracelin followed by an ace by Jessica Confer gave the Lady Indians a 15-12 lead. The set would become tied at 16-all on a Crist ace and at 17-all on an over-pass stuff by the Lady Indians. Quinter took a three-point advantage (17-20) on two SF miscues and a kill by Havlas. St. Francis took their first time-out to stop the momentum. Though the Lady Indians trimmed the deficit to one (19-20) on the kill by Lauren Johnson, Quinter soon earned another three-point advantage with an ace serve (19-22). The Quinter run again ended with a service error. The Lady Indians then reeled off a five-point run with all but one point coming on Quinter miscues. Lindsey Johnson recorded a stuff to give the Lady Indians a 23-22 lead. After falling behind 24-22, the Lady Bulldogs used their second time-out in two volleys in an attempt to stop momentum. A St. Francis attack error moved the score to 24-23 but the game ended on a Quinter attack that found the net. St. Francis won game one 25-22 after a battle with many extended volleys.
Game two was much the same. Both teams earned two runs of 3 and 6 points. St. Francis missed two serves while Quinter missed three. St. Francis recorded one stuff, Quinter 2. St. Francis earned 2 aces, Quinter had one. The 24-26 score showed how even the teams played, but it was the scrambling action and intensity of both teams that was impressive. A tip by Emileigh Dinkel opened the scoring. Quinter answered with an over-pass tip. Trailing 5-7, the Lady Indians earned a 6-point run to take an 11-8 lead and caused Quinter to spend their first time-out. The run featured a kill by Hanna Bracelin, an ace and awesome dig by Taighe Weeter, and a kill by Dinkel. After the time-out, Quinter reeled off six straight points to lead 11-14. The Quinter run included two kills, a stuff, and an ace. The run ended with a missed service attempt. Another three-point Quinter run stretched the deficit to 14-18 and included a stuff and kill by Payton Havlas. At tip-kill by Bracelin stopped the run. St. Francis trimmed the deficit to 17-19 on a kill and ace by Jessica Confer, but then missed a service attempt. The Lady Indians narrowed the deficit to 21-22 on a over-pass stuff by Emileigh Dinkel. Another SF kill by Confer moved the score to 23-24, and the Lady Indians tied the match at 24-all when Quinter was called for a net violation. Quinter won game two 24-26 on two SF errors.
The Lady Indians won game three by earning five runs of three-or-more points and limiting Quinter to only two. St. Francis opened the contest with a 3-0 lead earning kills by Emileigh Dinkel and Jessica Confer. Quinter tied the contest before another Confer kill stopped the Lady Bulldog run. A three-point Quinter run including a kill by Crist and an ace (off the net) gave the Lady Dawgs a 6-8 lead. A missed serve (the only one in this set) ended the run. Hanna Bracelin's deep-tip tied the set at 8-all. A four-point SF run including two kills by Lauren Johnson and an ace by Taighe Weeter gave the Lady Indians a 12-9 advantage. Another three-point run coming on a passing error after a hit by Dinkel, a strong kill by Dinkel, and a Confer kill triggered a Quinter time-out at 15-10. The Lady Indians continued to play well and eventually earned a 25-15 win in game three.
Golden Plains (Championship Bracket Play)
As she had done in the last two sets of the Quinter match, Emileigh Dinkel opened the set with a kill. A back-to-back kill and stuff by Jessica Confer gave the Lady Indians a 3-1 lead. A dump-set by Hanna Bracelin was followed by a Confer ace and an attack error by Golden Plains (GP). The flurry caused GP to take their first time-out to stop momentum at 9-3. The Lady Indians increased the advantage to 11-3 before committing three consecutive attack errors. A four-point SF run included a Dinkel over-pass tip and an ace by Taighe Weeter and extended the St. Francis lead to 17-8. Golden Plains responded with a five-point run to narrow the margin to 17-13 before Dinkel stopped the run with a kill off an attempted block. The next St. Francis run closed out the set as the Lady Indians earned an aggressive kill by Dinkel, a kill by Bracelin, and a kill by Confer before the second Quinter time-out was used. After returning to action, Confer earned two more kills and Madison Tice added an ace to help close the game. St. Francis won set one 25-14.
Though St. Francis led 2-0, it wasn't long before a 5-point run by the Lady Bulldogs placed the Lady Indians at a 2-5 deficit. A deep-tip kill by Lauren Johnson stopped the GP run. Madison Tice followed with an ace and Jessica Confer added a kill to tie the game at 5-all. A kill by Hanna Bracelin tied the game at 6 and an over-pass kill by GP's KayCee Miller tied the game at 7. Lauren Johnson's kill tied the match at 9-all and started a 8-point St. Francis run. The run included three aces by Bracelin and a well-placed tip by Emileigh Dinkel, as well as a GP time-out. The Lady Indian advantage grew to 16-9, before GP mounted three runs of their own (4, 3, and 3 pts) to take a 18-19 lead. The Lady Indians retook the lead (20-19, 21-20, and 22-21) before an aggressive kill by Miller retied the contest at 22-all. St. Francis won game two 25-22 capitalizing on three errors by the Lady Bulldogs.
Wheatland-Grinnell (Championship Game)
Wheatland-Grinnell (WG) proved to be a very strong team again this year. After winning the state championship in 2015 and placing as runner-up in 2016, the Lady Thunderhawks appear to be ready to challenge for another state placing. The Lady Indians competed very well in the match but could not keep pace with a consistent attack of the Thunderhawks. The Lady Indians only earned one run of three-or-more points in each set while allowing WG three per set. Play was close throughout, but the runs comprised enough of a point-spread difference to decide the match. WG took an advantage early in each set had held it throughout. St. Francis led set one 3-2 after a kill by Jessica Confer and a tip by Lindsey Johnson. WG took a 3-4 lead on a SF hitting error and reeled off five straight points to lead 3-7 before another Confer kill stopped the run. A kill by Hanna Bracelin closed the gap to 5-7, but then the Lady Thunderhawks rolled. Earning four kills, two aces, and one stuff along the way, WG completed a 9-point run to lead 5-16. The run was ended on a Bracelin dump-set. Trailing 7-19, the Lady Indians made a valiant effort earning an over-pass stuff by Emileigh DInkel, a deep-tip by Bracelin, enroute to a 12-19 score. Wheatland-Grinnell scored on 5 of the last seven volleys to win 15-25.
In game two, the Lady Thunderhawks took a 1-5 lead earning a 4-point run. St. Francis answered with a 3-point run getting a deep-tip kill from Lauren Johnson and a kill from Hanna Bracelin. After being tied at 6-all, WG took a two-point lead on an over-pass kill and an ace. After St. Francis earned another point, the Thunderhawks scored a four-point run including kills from Mikayla Heier and Zoe Schultz to lead 7-12. Back-to-back kills by Bracelin and Lauren Johnson trimmed the deficit to 10-13. The teams traded blows with the Thunderhawks regaining a 5-point lead only to have the Lady Indians reduce it to 19-20 on a stuff by Lindsey Johnson. As they had closed in game one, Wheatland-Grinnell scored on 5 of next 7 volleys to take a 21-25 win. St. Francis had played well and earned a second place finish in the Gove Classic Volleyball Tournament.
The Lady Indians will play Wallace County and Greeley County in St. Francis on Tuesday, September 12.
Click on the photos to see more photos!
