Bison spikers win a thriller

Friday, September 3, 2004
John J. Mesh/McCook Daily Gazette McCook High School junior Allison Smith serves during the Bsion team's 25-22, 25-22, 20-25, 28-26 win over Hastings Thursday night at the MHS gym. Smith had 3 ace serves against the Tigers, 8 kills and 4 blocks.

McCook survives

four-game match

against Hastings

It was the kind of match McCook High School volleyball coach Krystal Weber has been waiting for three years for her squad to play.

The Bison won 3-of-4 games from the Hastings Tigers Thursday night at the MHS gym in their season- and home-opening match.

McCook won the first two games 25-22 and 25-22 before dropping the third game 25-20. In the fourth game, the Bison won 28-26.

The win also gave the Bison a 1-0 record in Class B district competition.

"This is the best job of playing since I've been here," Weber said. "This is the best job of execution we've had. It's a different role for us. We have the ability to control the match.

"You always dread the first match and that your team is going to be hesitant."

The Bison received a lift from Corinne Hartzer, a 5-foot-8 senior, who got more minutes because a sprained ankle sidelined starter Allyx Shields, a 5-11 junior.

The Bison also had 12 ace blocks, led by Allison Smith and Kim Miller with 4 each and Sara Cappel with 2.

"That's probably more than we had all last season," Weber said.

Cappel led the Bison with 4 ace serves, followed by Smith and Hartzer with 3 each. Courtney Moore pounded out 12 kills, followed by Cappel with 10 and Smith 8.

Abbee Haney contributed 35 set assists. Cappel led in digs with 17, followed by Moore with 11 and Jennifer Chmiel 9.

"Corin Hartzer and Kim Miller did a nice job stepping in after an injury occurred to one of our starters during pregame warmup. Corin passed the ball well in the back row and Kim played the net aggressively.

"The seniors stepped it up in the leadership category last night as they brought mental focus back to the court after the lapse in Game 3.

"Courtney Moore and Sara Cappel did a great job in finding the open areas. Abbee Haney is much improved in her decision making and is doing a better job of getting the hitters the ball and mixing the offense around to all hitters."

The Bison compete in the Lexington Invitational at 10 a.m. Saturday.

"This win should give us a confidence boost going into the tournament," Weber said.

McCook JV wins -- The McCook junior varsity volleyball team defeated Hastings 25-17, 25-9, but the sophomore squad 25-22, 14-25, 25-23.

The JV was paced in serving by Erica Clapp, who was 11-of-11 with 5 aces. Colby Eisenhart was 12-for-14 with 5 aces.

Miller was 6-for-9 in hits (6 kills), Jessica Fritsch 6-for-7 (5 kills) and Lindsey Hazlitt 5-for-5 (5 kills).

Clapp and Alyssa Cook were a combined 32-for-32 in sets with 10 assists.

"Serving was a key to the win," said JV coach George Briggs. "In the two games, McCook had 13 ace serves with six coming in the second game.

"Erica Clapp and Colby Eisenhart both had five ace serves. That probably accounted for the fewer kills by our hitters. At the same time, it was nice to see our setters distribute the ball to three different hitters.

"Also, our setters would have more set assists if we didn't have those ace serves. I thought Jessica Fritsch really sparked us early in the frist game with some exciting hitting.

"Our two middles Kim Miller and Lindsay Hazlitt also did a fine job attacking the middle of the Hastings defense.

"Another key to the match was our serve receive as we only had three errors."

The McCook JV will play a triangular Tuesday at Holdrege against the host Dusters and Grand Island Northwest.

McCook sophomores -- Clapp led the Bison sophomores in serving. She was 13-for-13 with 4 aces. Clapp was also 68-for-70 in sets with 23 assists.

Ashlee Huffman was 17-for-20 in hits with 9 kills. Morgan Pearson was 13-for-16 with 6 kills.

"The sophomores played well for their first high school," said Briggs, who also coaches the sophomores.

"Lindsay Hazlitt had a good serving game in the second game as she accounted for 8 consecutive points, putting McCook ahead 24-13 before Hastings got the ball back. Hastings netted the serve and we went on to win the second game.

"In the third game, we had our chances to win. We were down 15-20 and fought back to 19-20, 20-21 and 23-24 before Hastings scored the final point."

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