Volleyball Season Ends at Sub-State
The 2017 volleyball season came to a close at the Wakeeney Sub-State on Saturday, October 21. The Lady Indians, seeded #3, were defeated by a good Hill City team in the quarterfinal round of the tournament, 22-25, 24-26. Though the Lady Indians made many good plays, they also made several errors in execution, and coupled with the good play of the Lady Ringnecks, the performance was not good enough to advance in the tournament. St. Francis held an 18-14 lead in set one and a 23-17 lead in set two, but a scrappy Hill City team made come-from-behind wins in both sets.
Lindsey Johnson opened the match with a kill for the Lady Indians. After a net violation on St. Francis, the Lady Ringnecks took a 1-3 led on a kill by Carrie Kennedy (Sr.) and an ace by Daryian Belleau (Fr.). The margin grew to three-points (2-5) after a down-the-line kill by Kennedy and a SF attack error. A kill by Jessica Confer started a three-point run by the Lady Indians to tie the set at 5-all. St. Francis retook the lead (8-7) on a kill by Lauren Johnson, but an attack error by SF gave Hill City (HC) an 8-9 lead moments later. Another short run by SF, including a tip-kill by Emileigh Dinkel and an ace by Taighe Weeter moved the scoreboard to 11-9. HC answered with two strong kills by Kennedy and an ace by Connor Keith (Sr.) (11-12). The game became tied for the 6th time on a HC missed serve. A tip by Lauren Jones (Sr.) gave HC a one-point lead, but the Lady Indians responded with a four-point run to take a 16-13 advantage. The run resulted from a kill by Confer, 2 kills by Hanna Bracelin, and a HC attack error. The run ended on a kill by HC's Ellie Keener (Sr.). Another Bracelin kill and an attack error by HC increased the Lady Indians' lead to 18-14 and resulted in a HC time-out. Though the Lady Indians had earned a marginal lead, the Lady Ringnecks continued to fight hard as they had done from the beginning. A SF attack error was followed by a kill by Breckan Born (Fr.) reducing the advantage to 18-16. Four consecutive miscues by the Lady Indians allowed HC to earn a 19-20 led, and St. Francis used their first time-out. After returning to the floor, the Lady Indians misplayed another HC attack, and the deficit grew tot 19-21. The Lady Indians tied the set at 21-all (the 10th tie of the set) after a HC lift and attack error. The Lady Ringnecks then scored on a stuff block as well as an attack error and lift by the Lady Indians (21-24.). Though the Lady Ringnecks missed a game-point serve, the Ringnecks outstanding hitter, Carrie Kennedy, ended the set with a crushing spike. St. Francis lost set one 22-25.
Set two opened with a missed serve by the Lady Indians. SF followed with a four-point run including an off-the-block tip by Jessica Confer, a deep-tip by Lauren Johnson, and two aces by Madison Tice. The run gave the Lady Indians a 4-1 advantage. A tip by Allissa Keith (Fr.) narrowed the lead to 6-4, and a SF attack error moved HC within one (6-5). A three-point SF run began with a long volley that ended with a HC attack error. In the run, Lauren Johnson scored on a stuff block and Hanna Bracelin recorded a kill to move the scoreboard to 9-5. Kennedy answered with a strong back-row attack. The teams fought back-and-forth recording a kill by Bracelin, another stuff by Johnson, and two kills by Kennedy before an ace by Conner Keith and a SF attack error narrowed the advantage to 12-10. Back-to-back kills by Kennedy narrowed the lead to one (13-12), but an ace by Tice gave SF a 15-12 advantage. Though the Lady Indians misplayed an over-pass into the net, they earned a four-point run to stretch the advantage to 19-13. The run included a Bracelin kill in the deep corner, a joust won at the net by Jessica Confer, and two HC errors. Though Kennedy recorded two kills and Amber Desbian (So.) one to off-set kills by Bracelin and Lauren Johnson, the Lady Indians still held a 23-17 lead after a stuff block by Johnson. Hill City called time-out and returned to the floor to score on 9 of next 10 volleys. A HC run resulted from a lift after a Kennedy tip, a SF attack error, and a kill by Kennedy. The advantage narrowed to 23-20, and St. Francis called their first time-out. After returning to the floor, a passing error and a net violation on the Lady Indians further reduced the margin (23-22). Hill City aided the SF cause by missing a serve adding the 24th point. On the next volley, Kennedy hammered a spike for the Lady Ringnecks (24-23). The last three points all came on SF miscues; two attack errors and a passing error. Hill City completed a second set comeback to win 24-26.
The Lady Indians completed a fine season with a record of 25-10. Click here to view complete results of the Kansas Sub-State Tournaments.
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