Lady Indians Sweep Lady Jackrabbits
The Lady Indian volleyball team made a clean sweep of the Greeley County Lady Jackrabbits on Monday, October 2, in St. Francis. The Lady Indians won every set played during the evening defeating the Lady Jackrabbits 26-16, 25-11 in the junior varsity contest and winning the "best of 5" varsity match 25-11, 25-7, and 25-16. The evening was also Senior Night, and the seniors and their parents were recognized between the JV and varsity matches. Seniors that were participating in their last home volleyball event were: Hanna Bracelin (daughter of Chris Bracelin and Jill Bracelin), Emileigh Dinkel (daughter of Randy and Susan Dinkel), Zoe Sundstrom (daughter of Garrett and Angie Sundstrom), and Madison Tice (daughter of Derek and Heidi Tice). The evening was also a "Pink Out" match to raise breast cancer awareness. After the high school matches, the 4th and 5th grade girls scrimmaged.
The evening began with the junior varsity contest. The Lady Indians controlled set one getting 4 runs of three or more points while only allowing one run to the Lady Jackrabbits. There was little flow to the match due to the lack of offensive attack from the Lady Jackrabbits. The Lady Rabbits scrambled hard defensively, but could not control the Lady Indians' superior attack. St. Francis opened the set with a 4-point run before missing a serve. The run included an ace by Karly Bandel and kills by Lauren and Emma Johnson. The next Lady Indian run of six points, increased the margin to 11-2 and featured kills by Jessica Confer and Hannah Zimbal (2). A series of GC errors, plus another Zimbal kill, moved the scoreboard to 15-3. The margin reached 13 points (18-5) on a GC attack error. With the large lead, the Lady Indians' focus seemed to fade, and a series of Lady Indian errors soon allowed a 7-point GC run and closed the advantage to 20-12. The run ended on a missed serve by the Lady Jackrabbits. The Lady Indians recorded kills by Lauren Johnson and Emma Johnson (2) en route to a 25-16 win in set one.
The second junior varsity set was very similar. St. Francis took control early and had three large runs during the set. A five-point SF run moved the score to 6-2. The run included kills by Taighe Weeter and Lauren Johnson. The next Lady Indian run was triggered by some strong serves by Jessica Confer and included 3 aces. The run increased the margin to 12-3 and caused a GC time-out. A kill by GC's Brianna Hill and two aces by Rachel Lehman reduced the margin to 12-7 before the Lady Indians rolled again. This 7-point run by the Lady Indians included an ace and deep-tip by Emma Johnson as well as several GC miscues. The score now stood at 19-7. The Lady Indians added a deep-tip kill by Emma Johnson, a back-row kill by Confer, and two aces by Hannah Zimbal to close the set. St. Francis won set two 25-11.
The varsity Lady Indians completely dominated the Lady Jackrabbits. Though the Lady Indians missed 9 serves in the match, they won three straight sets and only allowed two runs of three or more points in the entire match. St. Francis earned 13 scoring runs, some as large a 10 points. The Lady Jackrabbits scored on a few strong attacks in the match, but a lack of a consistent offensive attack kept the Lady Rabbits scrambling to return the aggressive attacks of the Lady Indians. Having special evenings were Emileigh Dinkel (8 kills, 2 aces, and 1 stuff) and Jessica Confer (6 kills and 6 aces).
St. Francis jumped out to a 4-0 lead in set one getting two kills by Emileigh Dinkel and an ace from Lauren Johnson. A stuff-block by GC's senior Hannah Brandl moved the score to 5-2. Back-to-back kills by Jessica Confer and Lauren Johnson increased the lead to 8-2. The next St. Francis run of 4 points included a Confer ace and moved the scoreboard to 12-4. A missed serve by the Lady Indians, their 3rd of the set, decreased the advantage to 13-7. Two kills by Dinkel, a hitting error by GC, and a powerful attack by Lindsey Johnson increased the margin to ten (17-7). Another missed serve, plus a stuff by Brandl and a SF attack error, gave Greeley County their only three-point run of the set. St. Francis won 8 of the next 9 volleys to win set one 25-11. The scoring included two aces by Lauren Johnson, two aces by Madison Tice, a kill by Dinkel, and a kill by Confer.
Set two was even more lop-sided. The Lady Indians earned runs to 6, 7, and 10 en route to a victory in set two. After trailing for the first time during the evening (0-2), the Lady Indians earned a swing-hit kill by Emileigh Dinkel, two aces from Lauren Johnson, and a kill from Jessica Confer to lead 6-2. The run ended on another SF missed serve. The Lady Jackrabbits narrowed the margin to 8-5 on the second SF missed serve of the set. The Lady Indians then reeled off runs of 7 and 10 points to win 25-7. During the runs, Karly Bandel served an ace, Jessica Confer smashed an over-pass and served up four aces, and Hanna Bracelin scored on a tip and spike.
St. Francis missed their first two serves of set three. The misses, plus an powerful kill and a stuff-block by Brandl, placed the Lady Indians at a 2-4 deficit. The Lady Jackrabbits then missed a serve starting a 4-point SF run that included a kill by Jessica Confer and a tip-kill by Hanna Bracelin. This run also ended with a missed serve by the Lady Indians. After being tied at 7-all, the Lady Indians scored three straight points to lead 10-7. This small run featured a Bracelin overpass-tip and an ace from Confer. Greeley County then earned their second run of the entire match; scoring five consecutive points -all on SF miscues - to lead 10-12. Three more SF runs of 7, 4, and 3 would soon close the match. The final three runs were aided (in order) by a Lauren Johnson ace, an over-pass kill by Emiliegh Dinkel, an ace by Bracelin, a stuff by Dinkel, a dump-set by Bracelin, a back-row kill by Taighe Weeter (Dinkel set), an ace by Lauren Johnson, a kill by Confer, a back-row kill by Bracelin, and a Dinkel ace. St. Francis won set three 25-16.
The Lady Indians will play Wallace County and Triplains-Brewster, in Brewster, on Tuesday, October 10.
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