Lady Indians Open With Sweep Over Lady Longhorns
The Lady Indian volleyball teams both began the 2019 campaign with victories on Friday, August 30. The Lady Indians traveled to Colorado to play Lone Star and came home with two wins. The junior varsity began the evening with a 25-17, 25-9 victory. The varsity followed with a 24-26, 26-16,, 25-20, 25-16 win.
The evening opened with the junior varsity match. After the open point went to the Lady Longhorns, St. Francis (SF) earned a three-point run which included an ace by Molly Gilliland. Lone Star (LS) ended the Lady Indian run with a tip-kill by freshman Leah Kubitz.and tied the match at 3-all on a SF passing error. After the match became tied at 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12; the Lady Indians earned a five-point run to take a 17-12 advantage. The run featured 3 aces by Hailey Robbins and a LS passing error on an attack by Mireya Palasio-Rocha. After a Lone Star time-out, a missed serve ended the Lady Indian run. St. Francis earned points on a kill by Bailey Workman, an ace by Gilliland, an attack by Robbins, and an over-pass kill by Rian Zimbal to help work their way toward 25 points. Workman's ace finalized the win. St. Francis won game one 25-17.
St. Francis controlled set two from the outset. The Lady Indians jumped out to a 7-3 lead before earning a 10-point run behind some consistent serving by Rian Zimbal. The run featured two Zimbal aces. A missed serve ended the run, but the Lady Longhorns returned the favor immediately. Lone Star then earned a three-point run receiving an ace and a kill from freshman Hailey Forry. Again, a missed serve stopped the run. St. Francis stretched the margin to 21-7 on an ace by Hailey Robbins. The Lady Indians won set two 25-9.
The varsity match was highly competitive. The two teams were evenly matched, and each set was undecided until late in the game. The Lady Longhorn squad featured only one senior. As the match unfolded, both teams exhibited some excellent scrambling defensive play making the match very enjoyable to watch. Only three runs of three points or more were recorded in set one. Lone Star earned two short runs of 3 points; SF earned one run of 5 points. An ace by freshman Hailey Forry gave LS a 2-3 advantage. A kill by sophomore Ali Davis moved the score to 3-4. St. Francis took a 5-4 lead on a lift call, but a stuff block by Davis soon tied the set at 6-all. The set was tied 14 times during the action. A kill by Mia Morrow gave the Lady Indians a slim 7-6 advantage. LS regained the lead on a net violation (8-9), but a kill by Jordan Faulkender retied the set at 11. A series of three missed serves (2 SF; 1 LS) preceded an ace by LS's Davis. After the Longhorns earned a 3-point run moving the score to 12-15, St. Francis used their first time-out. After returning to action, Morrow's over-set tip ended the Lady Longhorn run. Davis and Morrow then exchanged kills moving the scoreboard to 14-16. Unfortunately, the Lady Indians missed their next serve starting another three-point LS run. At 14-19, St. Francis used their final time-out. St. Francis returned to the floor to earn a 5-point run tying the set at 19-all. The run featured two aces by Karly Bandel and kills by Hannah Zimbal and Emma Johnson. The flurry triggered a time-out by the Lady Longhorns. A stuff by Johnson tied the set at 20-all. Two attack errors by SF gave LS a 21-23 advantage. The teams then exchanged missed serves (22-24). Two hitting errors by LS tied the set at 24 all. The deciding points came on a kill by the Lady Longhorns and final attack error by the Lady Indians. The Lady Longhorns won set one 24-26.
Set two featured several extended runs. Hailey Forry opened the set with a kill for LS. Though the Lady Indians used an early time-out, LS earned a 5-point run extending their lead to 1-6 on a kill by Ali Davis. St. Francis earned a couple much-needed points on an attack by Kattie Wurm and a kill by Emma Johnson (3-6). A kill by LS junior Jayna Lockard moved the score to 4-8. Mia Morrow earned a kill advancing the numbers to 6-10. Trailing 6-12, the Lady Indians earned a 5-point run narrowing the margin to 11-12. The run featured three kills by Hannah Zimbal and an ace by Morrow. Unfortunately, the run ended with a serving error. A deep-tip by Zimbal began the next St. Francis run. After a kill by Johnson and a Zimbal ace, LS called time-out trailing 15-14. After the time-out, the run continued as the Lady Indians earned a stuff by Jordan Faulkender, a kill by Johnson, and a ace by Zimbal aiding a 7-point run. After relinquishing a point on a passing error after a LS tip, the Lady Indians added another 5-point run extending the margin to 24-15. A tip-kill by Davis was followed by a kill by Mia Morrow ending the set. St. Francis won set two 25-16.
A kill by Hailey Forry gave LS a 0-2 lead in set three. Hannah Zimbal's stuff block tied the set at 2. St. Francis took a 4-3 lead on a tip by Kattie Wurm. Another Wurm tip changed the scoreboard to 5-4. A tip-kill and ace by Emma Johnson move the Lady Indian advantage to 8-5. Wurm's kill, extending the margin to 12-8, triggered a LS time-out. Wurm's next tip moved the advantage to 14-8. The 4-point SF run ended on a kill by LS sophomore Frannie Sawyer. An additional kill by senior Michela Kuntz and an ace by Sawyer narrowed the margin to 15-11. Emma Johnson's kill began the next SF run of 3-points. Mia Morrow's strong kill moved the advantage to 18-11. LS followed with a three-point run of their own again narrowing the margin to four points (18-14). Johnson's next kill (20-15) was followed by a few LS points narrowing the advantage 21-18. St. Francis called time-out for strategy. Another Johnson kill reclaimed a 5-point advantage (23-18). An ace by Forry narrowed the margin to 23-20, but it was followed by a dump-set by Bandel. St. Francis won set three 25-20.
Each team earned three runs in set four. St. Francis opened the set with a 3-point run including a tip-kill by Hannah Zimbal and an ace by Karly Bandel. LS answered with a 3-point run of their own. Kattie Wurm' kill moved the score to 5-3. After a few SF miscues, LS tied the set at 6-6 on an over-pass kill by Michaela Kuntz. Ali Davis gave LS the lead (6-7) with a powerful kill. Mia Morrow answered with three consecutive kills. The five-point SF run was also supported by some aggressive serves by Emma Johnson. The final point of the run came on an over-pass kill by Jesslynn Houtman. After a missed serve, the Lady Indians started another run. Once the score reached 14-8, LS called a time-out to regroup. The Lady Indians returned to the floor to add a tip-kill by Zimbal and stuff by Jordyn Faulkender. The advantage was now 16-8. The Lady Longhorns then earned a 5-point run ending with a tip by M. Kuntz. The action narrowed the lead to 16-13, and SF used a time-out to slow the momentum. The Lady Indians followed with a 5-point run including a kill by Morrow, a tip by Zimbal, an ace by Morrow, and a kill by Faulkender. The advantage moved to 21-14. After a kill by LS's Frannie Sawyer, Zimbal earned another kill. St. Francis earned a kill and stuff by Emma Johnson to close the match. St. Francis won game four, and the match, 15-16.
The Lady Indians will play Hoxie and Goodland in St. Francis on Tuesday, September 3. First serve is at 4:30 p.m.
Click the photos to see more photos!
