Lady Indians Earn Two More Wins
On Thursday, September 6, the Lady Indian volleyball team traveled to Wauneta, Nebraska, for competition. The Lady Indians defeated the host Lady Broncos 25-16, 25-22 and then earned an exciting two-set win over Rawlins County 25-20, 25-17. There were no junior varsity matches scheduled for the evening.
St. Francis jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead against the Wauneta-Palisade (W-P) Lady Broncos. Seven of the nine volleys ended with good plays by the Lady Indians. Lauren Johnson, Jessica Confer, Lindsey Johnson, and Emma Johnson each earned kills; Mia Morrow served up two aces, and Lindsey Johnson recorded a stuff to get the Lady Indians off to a good start. Soon, a three-point run by the Lady Broncos trimmed the lead to 10-6. Lindsey Johnson ended the W-P run with a kill. A kill by Morrow started a three-point Lady Indian run that moved the score to 14-7. W-P was taking some good swings, but many of their attacks were landing in the net or out-of-bounds. Another three-point run, beginning with a dump-set by Emma Johnson and closing with a Confer kill, moved the scoreboard to 17-9. W-P took their final time-out to discuss strategy. The teams played nearly evenly from that point on with Confer, Karly Bandel, and Lauren Johnson, each recording kills; and Emma Johnson earning a stuff-block enroute to a 25-16 set one win.
Though the score to set two was a bit closer, it followed a similar path. St. Francis jumped out to a 6-1 lead on a four-point run. In the first nine points the Lady Indians scored, only one kill was recorded--that by Jessica Confer. Seven of the points came on attack errors by the Lady Broncos and one point came on a W-P passing error. After an ace by Lindsey Johnson and a stuff by Mia Morrow, the score stood at 11-9. W-P then earned their first kill of the set on an attack by Maycee Wheeler (So.). Monique Gooden (Sr.) smashed an aggressive kill on the next volley tying the set at 11-all. The five-point run by W-P also included an ace by Michaela Dukes (Jr.) and another kill by Wheeler. St. Francis took a time-out trailing 11-14. Moments later, a three-point St. Francis run tied the set at 15-all. Karly Bandel scored an ace during the action. Confer sandwiched a kill between two St. Francis serving errors keeping the game tied (16-all). W-P earned another three-point run on two more attack errors by the Lady Indians, and St. Francis used their last time-out to re-group. The Lady Indians won five of the next six volleys to earn a 21-20 advantage. In the run, Emma Johnson scored on a deep-tip and an over-pass kill and Lauren Johnson added a dump-set point. W-P used their first time-out trailing by one-point in an attempt to stop the momentum. St. Francis earned a 23-21 advantage on a strong spike by Morrow causing the final W-P time-out. After returning to action, W-P earned a point on a dump-set by Dukes, but Emma Johnson answered with a kill for the Lady Indians. The match ended on a W-P net violation. St. Francis won set two 25-22.
The Lady Indians followed the W-P match with a two-set win over Rawlins County (RC). St. Francis set the tone early jumping out to a 12-2 lead. Along the way, St. Francis earned kills by Jessica Confer (3), Emma Johnson (2), and Lindsey Johnson. Mia Morrow served an ace, and Lauren Johnson scored on a stuff-block. Scrappy as always, Rawlins County wasn't going to lie down. A quick RC four-point run trimmed the margin to 12-6. In the run, Kierstyn Domsch (5'6" So.) served an ace. The RC run was halted by a powerful spike by Confer. Angie Singhateh (5' 8" Sr.) and Kristen Beckman (5' 5" Jr.) followed with kills; Beckman's coming with authority (13-8). Another Beckman kill narrowed the advantage to 15-10. After a scrambling volley with great saves by both teams, the Lady Indians earned a point on a ball that struck the net. Confer followed with a kill, but Brea Lankas (5' 9" Jr.) answered. Lauren Johnson then earned back-to back kills to give the Lady Indians a 20-12 lead triggering a RC time-out. St. Francis returned to the court only to miss a serve. RC responded with three straight kills which caused the Lady Indians to use a time-out (20-16). After the regroup, Lindsey Johnson earned a tip-kill. RC followed with two more points before Lauren Johnson scored on a back-row attack. Beckman earned two kills in the next four serves to narrow the margin to 24-20 before a well-executed dump-set by Lauren Johnson sealed the win.
Kristen Beckman opened set two with a powerful spike. It was obvious the Lady Indians had the Lady Buffs attention. Rawlins County moved out to a 3-7 lead getting kills from Brea Lankas, and two more by Beckman along the way. Lindsey Johnson sealed two of the Lady Indians points with kills. Needing a change of momentum, the Lady Indians used a time-out. After the break, Hannah Zimbal won a joust at the net, but Beckman quickly scored again. Soon, the Lady Indians would earn two three-point runs to tie the contest at 10-all. Along the way, Mia Morrow earned three kills and Zimbal and Emma Johnson each earned a kill. RC took a time-out to slow the Lady Indians' momentum. Again, the Lady Indians missed their serve after returning to play, but followed with a six-point run including kills by the Johnson twins and an ace by Morrow. The Lady Indians were back in front 16-11. The next St. Francis kill, by Lindsey Johnson, triggered the final RC time-out (18-12). Kierstyn Domsch finalized the first volley following the time-out, but Emma and Lauren Johnson each answered with kills (20-13). Angie Singhateh (3) and Ryan Domsch (5' 4" Jr.) scored kills during the ensuing volleys to narrow the margin to 22-17. St. Francis won the final three points, each coming on RC attack errors. St. Francis won set two 25-17.
The wins moved the Lady Indians season record to 6-1. The Lady Indians will compete in the Gove County Classic Volleyball Tournament on Saturday, September 8, at Wheatland High School.
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