Lady Indians Split Matches in Tribune
The Lady Indians split their matches with Greeley County in Tribune on Monday, October 1. The junior varsity team lost a best-of-three contest in a close three-set match to the Lady Jackrabbits 25-20, 13-25, 14-16. The varsity Lady Indians had little trouble in their contest, over-powering Greeley County in three straight sets in a best-of-five contest 25-6, 25-11, 25-18.
The junior varsity match opened the evening. In set one, Greeley County opened with a tip-kill and led 0-2. A three-point run by the Lady Indians, all coming on GC errors, gave St. Francis the lead until the Lady Indians missed a serve. A kill by Jordan Faulkender tied the set at 4-all, but again the Lady Indians followed with a service error. Hadleigh Hilt's ace gave St. Francis the lead, and back-to-back kills by McKenna Poling advanced the margin to 9-6. Another Faulkender kill was followed by one from Kattie Wurm increasing the margin to 13-9. Greeley County responded with six straight points including two aces and a stuff by Myla Reynolds (5' 10" Fr.) to take a 13-15 lead and cause a St. Francis time-out. The Lady Indians won 7 of the next 8 volleys getting kills from Wurm, Hilt, Alondra Gomez, and Poling before missing another serve. It was the fourth service error of the set for St. Francis. The Lady Indians followed with two more kills and another service error (22-18). An ace by Poling closed the set. St. Francis defeated Greeley County in set one 25-20.
The Lady Indians' execution was not as sharp in the second set, and they could only earn one run of four points. Greeley County earned runs of 9, 5, and 3 enroute to a 13-25 victory. Leading 2-1, the Lady Indians allowed the Lady Rabbits to score nine straight points to lead 2-10. St. Francis gave up two aces during the action and had several passing and attack errors. GC earned two kills during the run. A kill by Bailey Workman was followed by an ace by Jordyn Faulkender, but a missed serve stopped the flow. It was the first of four service errors the Lady Indians would have in this set. Two GC kills and an ace soon increased the deficit to 5-16. Trailing 9-22, the Lady Indians earned a four-point run getting two aces from Kattie Wurm and a kill from Faulkender. The action caused GC to use at time-out to re-group. After returning to the floor, the Lady Indians missed another serve and the Lady Rabbits went on to win set two 13-25.
In the deciding set, both teams earned two runs. St. Francis earned runs of 3 and 6; Greeley County had runs of 5 and 4. GC jumped out to a 1-5 lead earning two aces, a kill, and a stuff enroute. A three-point St. Francis run included a free-ball kill by Jordyn Faulkender, but ended with another missed serve. A second missed service attempt began a four-point GC run and allowed the Lady Rabbits to lead 5-11. A 6-point SF run featured a nice save by Hadleigh Hilt followed by a Faulkender kill and also included 5 points on GC miscues. The flurry tied the set at 14-all. A very long volley resulted on the next serve with GC eventually earning a score on a stuff-block by Reynolds. An attack error by the Lady Indians closed the set. St. Francis lost to Greeley County 14-16.
St. Francis started well in the varsity match. The Lady Indians reeled off 12 straight points before the Lady Rabbits earned a kill off a block attempt. In the early action, Lauren Johnson served two aces, Hanna Zimbal recorded a stuff, and kills were recorded by Emma Johnson (2), Jessica Confer (2), and Zimbal (3). With the scoreboard showing 17-3, St. Francis earned two more runs winning 8 of 9 volleys to close the set with a 25-6 score. During the action, Mia Morrow (3) and Lauren Johnson earned kills and Zimbal recorded another stuff.
Hannah Zimbal opened set two with a strong kill. After a missed serve by the Lady Indians tied the set at 3-all, St. Francis earned an 8-point run to lead 11-3. During the action, Jessica Confer served up three aces, and Mia Morrow and Emma Johnson (2) each had kills. Leading 12-4, the Lady Indians began using several substitute players. The lead increased to 16-5 after an ace by Lindsey Johnson and a deep-tip by Lauren Johnson. An ace by Karly Bandel was followed by a kill by Mia Morrow off an assist by McKenna Poling. The back-to-back plays made the score 17-7. An ace by Poling gave St. Francis a 19-8 advantage. St. Francis closed the set earning kills by Zimbal, Jordan Faulkender, and Morrow as well as a stuff by Emma Johnson. The Lady Indians won set two 25-11.
A four-point run including two kills gave the Lady Rabbits a 2-4 lead in set three. St. Francis followed with a three-point run including a tip-kill by Lindsey Johnson and an ace by Karly Bandel. A five-point Lady Indian run began with a service error by GC and contained an ace by Emma Johnson and kills by each of the Johnson sisters. The action moved St. Francis in front 11-7. GC earned a 3-point run which included two stuffs by Reynolds to narrow the gap to 13-11. St. Francis responded with a run of five consecutive points to lead 18-11. The flurry included a kill by Jessica Confer and three aces by Mia Morrow. Three consecutive miscues by the Lady Indians plus a GC kill again narrowed the margin (18-15), but Confer and E. Johnson earned kills in a three-point run for St. Francis (21-15). The teams battled somewhat evenly the rest of the way with Confer earning two kills and Morrow an ace to close the set. St. Francis defeated the Lady Jackrabbits 25-18.
The Lady Indians will play in Sharon Springs against Wallace County and Triplains-Brewster on Tuesday, October 9.
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