Bison girls 4th at home volleyball tourney
After the week that was, it was probably a little amazing that the McCook High School volleyball team showed up to play at the McCook Invitational Saturday, Sept. 17.
The Bison suffered through several injuries in the week leading up to the annual home tournament. But McCook ended the tournament in fourth place and was competitive in two losses after losing arguably four of the top varsity players on the roster.
McCook opened tournament play with a 24-26, 25-20, 27-25 win over Cambridge. The Bison then dropped a 25-17, 25-14 decision to Chase County in the semifinals, and later lost a 25-18, 25-16 decision to Sidney in the third-place finals.
Head coach Krystal Weber saw four of her players involved in an auto accident Friday, Sept. 9. Riley Allen had bumps and bruises in the wreck, but she competed Saturday. Rachel Goltl and Kassidy Gillen sustained season-ending injuries, and Brettani Schmidt will be out for a couple weeks.
Last week in practice, Coach Weber saw her only senior on the roster, Amanda Fuchuck, suffer a season-ending knee injury.
"Like we said all week, it's been a tough week, and hats off for the kids for coming out against Cambridge and playing with fortitude and finding a way to finish that off," Weber said. "The same thing, to be competitive with Chase County for as many points as we could."
The Bison coach said some of her new starters did not have much practice time together in the week leading up to Saturday's action.
"We didn't have an opportunity to put those kids together on the court so that they got that transition and understanding and trusting what the person next to them is going to do," Weber said. "The longer we go with this and figure out our rotation, the more they are going to trust their teammate next to them, and they'll know what their teammate's going to do and what their not going to do. So it will be more of a natural flow to the game."
In the opening-round win over Cambridge, Brooklynn Trew paced the Bison with 8 ace serves and 31 set assists, plus 12 defensive digs. Miranda Holliday had 9 kills and 1 block, Riley Allen hit 8 kills, and Sydney Clapp added 7 kills plus 10 digs. Allen and Holliday each hit 2 ace serves. Brenleigh Daum had a team-high 13 digs, and Danica Liess added 1 block.
Bison serving woes
Coach Weber said serving hurt the Bison in the two Saturday losses.
"As a coach, there's nothing that you hate worse than to see kids step back and miss a serve, especially when you're in tight matches," Weber said. "It's such a momentum killer, and we talk about it all the time that serving is the most important part of the game -- and it's not like we don't practice it every single day. It's very frustrating because when you're missing serves, that's an indication that you're not mentally focused. And when you're not mentally focused, if you can't serve, you're not going to take care of the other aspects of your game either."
In the semifinal loss to Chase County, McCook had just three ace serves -- one each by Daum, Trew and Holliday. Allen led the Bison with 6 kills and 8 digs. Trew had 9 assists and 5 digs, Daum had 7 digs and Clapp chipped in 5 digs. Khyla Krepcik also had 2 kills and 1 block, and Liess added 1 block.
Trew hit 4 ace serves, 15 set assists and 10 digs in the loss to Sidney. Liess came alive with 7 kills, while Allen added 5 kills and a block. Daum also had 11 digs, Hollie Eiler added 5 digs and Kira Johnson had 1 block for the Bison.
Youngsters must step up
With the injuries McCook has suffered, Coach Weber is looking for some of her younger players to step up in the varsity lineup.
"We've talked about it before -- we need to find two people who can put the ball down on the outside, and we need to find two middles who can do their jobs and get their hands on the blocks so they can help our defense out," Weber said. "If we can find that, defensively it will come around and we'll be a better team. This week (in practices) we didn't have the opportunity to really put kids on the floor and give them an opportunity to play together. It was just one thing after another happening every day."
In addition to the injuries, Weber also said several Bison players missed workouts due to illness.
The Bison return to action at Hastings Tuesday for a varsity-JV triangular with the host Tigers and Crete starting at 5 p.m.
Area results
Several Gazette area teams competed in the McCook Invite.
Chase County advanced to the finals, and the Longhorns settled for second place after losing to Minden, 25-11, 25-22. The Imperial squad opened with a 25-18, 25-9 win over Alliance, then beat McCook in the semifinals in straight sets.
Three other area teams lost in first-round action, including Cambridge's loss to McCook. Southwest dropped a 21-25, 25-13, 25-18 decision to Sidney, and Decatur Community of Oberlin, Kansas, was beaten by Minden by scores of 25-11, 25-10.
In consolation semifinal play, Decatur Community topped Southwest, 25-21, 17-25, 26-24, and Alliance beat Cambridge, 22-25, 25-23, 25-20.
In the fifth-place final, Alliance beat Oberlin 21-25, 25-14, 25-18. Southwest nudged Cambridge in the seventh-place final, 25-23, 25-16.
Southwest got a strong game from Allie McConville against Sidney, as McConville hit 19 kills. McConville had 13 kills and Lauren Ruggles 14 against Oberlin. McConville hit 8 kills and Madison Mousel had 7 kills against Cambridge in the seventh-place final.
Kiah Blau hit 5 kills and had 4 blocks for Decatur Community in the Red Devils first-round loss to Minden. Taylor Macfee led the Devils with 9 kills against Southwest, and Blau had 6 kills and 7 blocks.
Oberlin's Keatra Fisher had 9 kills against Alliance, and Jamie Soderlund led Oberlin with 4 blocks.
McCOOK INVITATIONAL VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT
Saturday, Sept. 17 at McCook Senior High & Junior High gyms
First-Round Results
McCook def. Cambridge 24-26, 25-20, 27-25
Sidney def. Southwest 21-25, 25-13, 25-18
Chase County def. Alliance 25-18, 25-9
Minden def. Decatur Community (Oberlin, Kansas) 25-11, 25-10
Championship Bracket Semifinal Results
Chase County def. McCook 25-17, 25-14
Minden def. Sidney 25-12, 24-26, 25-17
Consolation Bracket Semifinal Results
Alliance def. Cambridge 22-25, 25-23, 25-20
Decatur Community def. Southwest 25-21, 17-25, 26-24
Seventh Place Final Results
Southwest def. Cambridge 25-23, 25-16
Fifth Place Final Results
Alliance def. Decatur Community 21-25, 25-14, 25-18
Third Place Final Results
Sidney def. McCook 25-18, 25-16
First Place Final Results
Minden def. Chase County 25-11, 25-22