Volleyball Team Advances to Sub-State Tourney
The Lady Indians advanced to the Sub-State Volleyball Tournament by earning a runner-up finish in the Regional Tournament held in St. Francis on Tuesday, October 16. The Lady Indians will now compete in the Sub-State Tournament at Western Plains High School in Ransom, Kansas, on Saturday, October 20. The Lady Indians will play Wheatland-Grinnel at approximately 2 p.m. on Saturday. (For more information on the tournament, see the related feature article.)
St. Francis placed second in the Regional Tournament. The Lady Indians received a bye in the first round of competition and then defeated Wallace County 16-25, 25-12, 25-20 in the semi-final match. The Lady Indians were defeated by Rawlins County in the championship match by a score of 10-25, 20-25. The Lady Indians had a difficult start in the Regional Tournament and did not play their best volleyball throughout the day. Though the Lady Indians did many good things, some very good play from their opponents left the Lady Indians a bit disappointed in their performance.
Wallace County
Wallace County jumped out to a 1-4 lead. Wallace County (WC) earned a kill and an ace by Haylee Hennick (Jr.) and a kill by Leah Ayers (Jr.) in the opening volleys. Back-to-back aces by Jessica Confer tied the set at 4-all, but kills by Victoria Springsteel (So.) and Jessie Carman (So.) soon gave WC a two-point advantage (5-7). The first extended run of the contest belonged to the Lady Wildcats. Poor execution by the Lady Indians set up an over-pass kill and an over-set kill by Hennick, an over-pass kill by Ayers, and an ace by Springsteel. Trailing 7-13, the Lady Indians attempted to regroup during a time-out. Jessica Confer earned a kill on the next volley ending the WC run. Kills by Emma Johnson and Confer narrowed the deficit to six (10-16), but a strong kill by Ayers moved the margin back to seven (11-18). A WC service error and a kill by Mia Morrow pulled the Lady Indians within five (13-18). It was as close as the Lady Indians would get. Three successive kills by WC (2 by Makenna Chaney (So.) and 1 by Hennick) quickly moved the score to 13-21. The three-point run was halted by a kill by Hannah Zimbal for the Lady Indians. In the closing volleys, St. Francis received kills by Confer and Lauren Johnson, but WC countered with kills by Hennick (2) and Ayers. St. Francis lost set one to Wallace County 16-25.
Wallace County opened set two with a service error, but followed with a three-point run including kills by Ayers, Hennick, and Carman. Trailing 2-4, St. Francis earned a five-point run beginning with a powerful spike by Lindsey Johnson and including a kill by Mia Morrow and an ace by Jessica Confer. The action gave St. Francis their largest lead of the match (7-4). A 3-point SF run featuring an ace by Emma Johnson and a kill by Morrow. increased the margin to 10-5. Four Lady Indian miscues moved WC within one (10-9) before a well-placed tip by Emma Johnson ended the run. A stuff-block by Hennick moved the score to 12-10. A stuff by Lauren Johnson ignited a 6-point SF run moving the score to 18-10. The action included a crushing spike by Hannah Zimbal, an ace by Morrow, and two kills by Confer. A missed serve ended the fun. Lauren Johnson traded an ace for an Ayers kill, and then the Lady Indians closed the set with a 5-point run. The final flurry included kills by Confer and Lauren Johnson, a dump-set by Emma Johnson, and a WC passing error on a serve by Karly Bandel. St. Francis had played better in set two and won 25-12.
The Lady Indians opened the deciding set with a stuff by Jessica Confer sandwiched between two aces by Lauren Johnson. A few Lady Indian errors and a kill by Ayers tied the set at 4-all. Volleys ending in kills by Emma Johnson, Mia Morrow, and Lauren Johnson helped keep the Lady Indians nearly even with the Wildcats (7-8). A six-point SF run included two kills by Confer and an ace by Morrow and moved the Lady Indians in front 13-8. A missed serve ended the run, and after a Confer scoring tip, WC earned a four-point run narrowing the gap to 14-13. St. Francis used a time-out and after returning to the floor, WC missed their service attempt. A kill by Hennick was answered by a stuff by Emma Johnson, and a kill by Ayers was answered by a strong kill by Lindsey Johnson. The next scoring play, a stuff-block by Lauren Johnson, moved the score to 18-15. Two attack errors by the Lady Indians and a kill by Aubrey Kuhlman (Jr.) tied the set at 18-18. The Lady Indians season was on the brink of ending. St. Francis responded with a kill by Lauren Johnson and back-to-back aces by Lindsey Johnson to earn a bit of breathing room. The action also caused a WC time-out. In the closing volleys, St. Francis earned a kill by Hannah ZImbal and two kills by Confer to win 25-20. The win qualified St. Francis for the Sub-State Tournament and moved them to the championship match against Rawlins County.
Rawlins County
Rawlins County dominated the Lady Indians in set one. The Lady Indians did not earn a three-point run in the set while Rawlins County (RC) earned runs of 6, 3, and 5. St. Francis had 7 scoring plays (kills or stuffs) while RC earned 14. The first set opened with the teams trading points. Jessica Confer (kill) and Emma Johnson (stuff) traded points with Kierstyn Domsch (So.) (kill) and Brea Lankas (Jr.) (ace). Tied 2-2, the Lady Indians missed a serve; one of three in the set. Soon, RC earned a 6-point scoring run to lead 3-9. The run included four kills by RC and two Lady Indian errors. St. Francis called time-out at 3-11 attempting to regroup. The Lady Indians did earn scoring plays on three of the next five volleys (Morrow kill, Emma Johnson 2 kills) before missing another serve. A kill by RC's Kristen Beckman (Jr.) moved the score to 6-16. After narrowing the gap to 8, another missed serve plagued the Lady Indians. St. Francis would only earn one more kill (Confer) in the set. The Lady Buffaloes closed the set with a 5-point run receiving kills from Angela Singhateh (Sr.), Domsch, Ashlyn Livas (Fr.), Beckman, and an ace from Lankas. St. Francis lost set one 10-25.
It was time for a momentum swing in favor of St. Francis. After opening set two with two passing errors, the Lady Indians went on an 11-point run to lead 11-2. The Lady Indians played well during the run earning 8 scoring plays in 11 volleys. During the action, Jessica Confer recorded 3 kills, Emma Johnson had 3 kills, and Karly Bandel served up two aces. The Lady Buffs responded with a 4-point run (11-6) before a perfect attack along the net by E. Johnson and a Confer ace slowed the Buffs momentum. An over-pass kill by Singhateh was followed by a SF net violation and an ace by Amy Crouse (Sr.) narrowing the advantage to 13-9. Lauren Johnson answered with a dump-set score. The Lady Indians would only earn three more scoring plays in the match. Trailing 15-9, RC scored 9 consecutive points to take a 15-19 lead. In the flurry, RC had two scoring plays, both kills by Beckman. Lady Indian miscues resulted in a long scoring drought for St. Francis. A kill by Mia Morrow finally ended the extended run but was followed by another Beckman kill. In the final volleys, St. Francis earned kills by Confer and Hannah Zimbal (over-pass tip), but three kills by Lankas helped seal the RC win. Rawlins County defeated St. Francis 20-25 to win the Regional Championship.
Both Rawlins County and St. Francis advance to Sub-State Tournaments to be held in Ransom on Saturday, October 20. The two teams will be in different Sub-State brackets and both are still alive to earn a Sub-State championship and qualify for the State Tournament. Only 32 of the 107 1A teams remain in the competition.
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