Ka-broom! Bison sweep Dusters off home floor

Friday, September 8, 2017
McCook attacked from all angles with a balanced attack that included senior Kyleana Blau (right) soaring to send this tip past two more Holdrege Dusters Thursday. The Bison are now 2-1 this season.
R.B. Headley/McCook Gazette

tart your engines because we’re going home long before bedtime!

That was the beautiful theme for McCook volleyball fans following a 25-15, 25-13, 25-14 varsity sweep of host Holdrege Thursday evening.

Holdrege (1-4 record) was probably happy to not be traveling because the Dusters really never knew what might hit them next.

Every Bison from big hitters Riley Sis (nine kills) and Jaden Bryant (eight) to late-game stuff blocker Brantleigh Morgan got involved during McCook’s second impressive road win this week.

McCook dominated even though coach Dennis Troester used one of those multiple-syllable words that can be tough for sportswriters to spell.

“We were a bit lackadaisical,” Troester admitted. “We were coming off a high at Ogallala (Tuesday) and didn’t play quite as well tonight.”

“But we’re happy to get the win. We need every one as we look at the seeding for some of these (upcoming) tournaments,” he added.

Troester had to be pleased how his team broke ties in all three sets and never got caught again.

Holdrege briefly had first-set hope at 6-6 only to see McCook quickly take control at 13-7.

Senior Holli Thomas’ ace serve literally crawled over the net while downing any potential Duster comeback attempts.

Tied 4-4, junior Jaceea Hansen’s strong kill sent McCook soaring to a big second-set lead.

Hansen drilled seven kills while only making one hitting mistake all match.

“She’s worked hard and definitely made great improvements,” Troester confirmed about the 5’11” middle hitter.

The third set featured senior Bailey Honn’s well-timed tip snapping a 5-5 tie.

Hansen proved to be just as tipsy, sending another loft perfectly over two Duster blocks.

The Dusters fired back their own answer — but senior libero Erika Fisher’s super dig set up Honn hammer time making it 10-5.

Other Bison were happy to get varsity playing time during this final domination.

Seniors Haley Potthoff and Kyleana Blau contributed to the victory clincher.

Yet it was most familiar hitter Sis who sent a kill ricocheting so high off Dusters that it hit the home team’s gym ceiling.

One more Hansen point and Morgan’s stuff block doubled the Holdrege point total at 24-12.

After a couple of delaying-the-inevitable Duster points, Hoffn’s fifth and final kill clinched this win.

“I also liked how JoAnn Neel served an after she missed a couple early,” Troester concluded. “We did have (good balance) tonight. It was good to get a lot of players into the match tonight.”

The Bison now have time to continue working on their games until an annual home invitational arrives at McCook High School on Saturday, Sept. 16.

Kills: Riley Sis 9, Jaden Bryant 8, Jaceea Hansen 7, Bailey Honn 5. Assists: Holli Thomas 14, Kassidy Michaelis 2. Digs: Erika Fisher 16, JoAnn Neel 10. Stuff blocks: Brantleigh Morgan 1, Hansen 1.

Ace serves: Bryant 2, Thomas 1, Honn 1, Neel 1.

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: