Lady Bison finish fourth at Holdrege Invite

Monday, September 25, 2017

HOLDREGE, Neb. -- McCook went 1-2 Saturday to finish fourth at the Holdrege Invitational. The Lady Bison defeated Ravenna in the first round before falling to Minden and Alliance to end the day.

After Saturday’s results, McCook is now 6-3 on the season.

The Lady Bison entered Saturday’s tournament as the No. 2 seed and played like it in their opening match. McCook made quick work of Ravenna in a 2-0 (25-8, 25-11) decision.

“We came out against Ravenna and played well,” said McCook head coach Dennis Troester. “We were able to play everyone most of the second set.”

Riley Sis paced McCook with five kills and Jaden Bryant added five ace serves in the win. Jaceea Hanson made her presence at the net with a match-high four blocks.

McCook hit .118 in the match while Ravenna struggled to a -.286 attacking percentage.

The Lady Bison put up strong statistics in Saturday’s semifinal match against Minden but ultimately came out on the wrong end of a 2-1 (25-18, 17-25, 25-21) decision.

“We played the first half of the opening set very well and attained a five-point lead before getting stuck in a rotation error on serve receive, then things began to fall apart,” Troester noted of the first-set loss. “We came back and won the second. Then, in the third, we dug a hole at the start and played catch up.”

McCook out did Minden in attacking percentage (.240 to .214) and total blocks (11 to 5). Hanson put in a strong performance with 13 terminations and 13 blocks to lead the Lady Bison. Sis chipped in 11 kills.

Saturday’s consolation match saw a rematch from the McCook Invitational championship between McCook and Alliance. This time, the Bulldogs came out on the winning side with a 2-1 (25-17, 23-25, 25-18) victory.

“We didn’t play nearly as well against them (Alliance) as we had last week,” Troester commented.

Bryant led McCook with 12 kills while Sis and Hanson had eight and six, respectively. Hanson, again, had a strong outing at the net with 11 total blocks.

In the supporting roles, Holli Thomas had 19 assists and Erika Fisher had 14 digs and 32 serve receptions.

Grand Island Central Catholic defeated Minden 2-1 (25-9, 23-25, 25-18) to win the Holdrege Invitational.

McCook returns to action with a Tuesday triangular at Cozad. The Lady Bison will square off against two quality opponents in Cozad (8-5 record) and Cambridge (8-5).

The Lady Bison will then head to Scottsbluff for the Twin Cities Tournament Friday and Saturday. McCook will play three matches each day.

Troester noted the difficult, and busy, week ahead for his team but sees it as a good opportunity to get back on track.

“We’re coming back to a very difficult week with the triangular Tuesday and then the trip to Scottsbluff where we’ll play six games over two days.”

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