Lady Indians Play Well; Earn Two More Wins
The Lady Indian volleyball teams made it a clean sweep on Tuesday, September 26, in St. Francis. The Lady Indians defeated Decatur Community (DC) and Cheylin in all matches played. The evening opened with a junior varsity match between St. Francis and Decatur Community. St. Francis won 25-20 in set one and rolled to a 25-9 victory in the deciding set. In varsity matches, St. Francis defeated Decatur Community 25-17, 25-21 and then smacked Cheylin 25-5 25-13. In the other match played during the evening, Decatur Community defeated Cheylin 25-14, 25-19.
In junior varsity action, St. Francis trailed Decatur Community early, but the game became tied at 2, 4, and 6 on kills by Emma (2) and Lauren Johnson (set Emma Johnson). The Lady Indians earned their first lead of the set (6-5) on a passing error by the Lady Red Devils and took a two-point advantage on an ace by Jessica Confer. Though the Lady Indians earned a stuff by Lauren Johnson, an ace by Karly Bandel, a deep-tip kill by Dinkel, and a kill by Hannah Zimbal along the way; the Lady Devils eventually earned a 11-12 advantage. A DC net violation was followed by a kill by Taighe Weeter and a Zimbal ace to re-establish the two-point advantage (14-12). A three-point run by the Lady Indians included another kill by Weeter and a Bandel ace and increased the lead to 17-14. The next SF run of 5 points, featured an ace by Confer and four DC miscues. The margin widened to 24-17. St. Francis won set one 25-20.
Set two was all St. Francis. The Lady Indians jumped out to a 5-0 lead before ending the run with a missed serve. A four-point Lady Indian run included kills by Emma Johnson and Hannah Zimbal and moved the scoreboard to 10-2. The next Lady Indian run featured kills by Zimbal and Taighe Weeter as well as four aces by Zimbal. The Lady Indians had stretched the margin to 19-7. St. Francis closed the set with six straight points on 4 DC errors and kills from Lindsey Johnson and Weeter. St. Francis won set two 25-9.
The St. Francis - Decatur Community match was competitive. The teams exchanged strong kills and hustling defense throughout the match, but the Lady Indians' consistency proved to be the difference. Emileigh Dinkel opened set one with a kill-off-the net. Consecutive kills by Lindsey Johnson moved the score to 3-2. A three-point DC run initiated by a powerful kill by DC sophomore Anna Carter was followed by a Carter stuff and over-pass kill to give the Lady Devils a 3-5 advantage. St. Francis answered with a four-point run including a tip-kill by Jessica Confer and free-ball kill by Hanna Bracelin to lead 7-5. After a tip-kill by Carter, SF added a kill and ace by Confer and nifty dump-set by Lauren Johnson. A SF passing error interrupted the run, but then the Lady Indians added a Bracelin ace and dump-set and two kills by Dinkel to lead 15-7. After a 3-point DC run, the Lady Indians added 5 more initiated by a Dinkel kill and capitalizing on several DC errors. The margin grew to 20-10. Another DC 3-point run triggered a SF time-out at 21-14. The Lady Indians closed the contest with a dump-set by Lauren Johnson, a kill by Confer, and a kill by Bracelin to end three of the last four volleys. St. Francis won set one 25-17.
A kill by Emileigh Dinkel tied set two at 2-all, and an ace by Madison Tice tied the set at 3. After an over-set kill by Carter, Hanna Bracelin's ace began a 6-point St. Francis run. The flurry included two kills by Jessica Confer and a deep-tip kill and ace by Bracelin. A back-to-back kill and ace by Confer moved the scoreboard to 11-6. St. Francis' next run moved the score to 15-7 and featured a back-row kill by Confer and an aggressive over-pass spike by Dinkel. The Lady Devils earned points on three consecutive SF errors before the next Lady Indian run began. The run initiated on another Dinkel kill and was followed by three DC miscues. St. Francis now led 19-10. Trailing 20-13, the Lady Red Devils reeled off 5 consecutive points to move within two before a St. Francis time-out stopped the action. The action included a few SF errors as well as a stuff and kill by Carter. After the time-out, Dinkel ended the run with a nice spike. Carter answered on the next volley. A kill by Brittney Wesley (Sr.) off an attempted block by Confer moved the Red Devils within one (21-20). The next three volleys ended in DC errors moving the score to 24-20. Though the Lady Devils would earn a point on a nice stuff-block by Wesley in the closing action, St. Francis won game two 25-21.
St. Francis dominated set one against the Cheylin Lady Cougars. St. Francis earned runs of 3, 10, and 8 while not allowing Cheylin to score more than two consecutive points at any time in the set. A kill by by Lindsey Johnson opened the match and was followed by an ace served by Lauren Johnson. A stuff by Lindsey Johnson and a kill by Jessica Confer helped advance the margin to 5-1. A missed serve by Cheylin started a 10-point Lady Indian run that moved the score to 15-2. During the run, Jessica Confer recorded three kills, Hanna Bracelin earned a kill, and Karly Bandel served an ace. Leading 17-5, the Lady Indians closed the set with eight consecutive points to win 25-5. The final run featured two kills by Emileigh Dinkel, two deep-tip kills by Bracelin, and a nice tip-kill by Kattie Wurm.In set two, the Lady Indians only allowed one three-point run by the Lady Cougars. The Lady Indians scored six runs of three or more points to earn a lop-sided win. St. Francis jumped out to a 5-0 lead earning kills by Lauren Johnson and Jessica Confer and getting an ace from Johnson. A kill by Cheylin's only senior, Rachel Keltz, stopped the run and was followed by a Keltz ace. Leading 6-4, the Lady Indians added three more on a Confer kill, an ace by Karly Bandel, and a Cheylin attack error to lead 9-4. Cheylin trimmed the deficit to three on a few SF miscues, but the next three-point run included a powerful spike by Lauren Johnson and extended the lead to 14-8. Johnson's next smash began a 7-point Lady Indian run. The run included three Johnson aces and a kill by Emileigh Dinkel. A tip by Keltz stopped the run, but only for a moment. St. Francis scored the last three points of the set to win 25-13. The final small run included an ace from Madison Tice.
St. Francis will play Hoxie and Dighton, in Hoxie, on Thursday, September 28. The volleyball team will also compete in the Oberlin Invitational Tournament on Saturday, September 30.