Lady Beaver volleyball finishes second at home meet

Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–The Scott City Lady Beaver volleyball team took steps forward on Saturday, placing second in the Scott City Invitational Volleyball Tournament held at the Scott Community Events Center. This year’s field saw six teams make their way to Scott City, where two of the teams came in ranked in their classifications. Lebo would edge the Lady Beavers in the championship match, as they won the third set 25-23 in a match that saw all three sets decided by two points. Scott City was second, followed by Norton in third and Lakin in fourth. Lebo entered Saturday with a No. 5 ranking in Class 1A, Division I, and Wheatland/Grinnell was ranked No. 10 in Class 1A, Division II.

In their first match of the day, the Lady Beaves would build a big lead early on against Lakin, using a 14-2 run to lead 20-8. The Lady Broncs would make a run, using a 12-4 run to pull to within 24-20, but the Lady Beavers would be too much, taking the opening set 25-20. Lakin led throughout the middle of the second set, and led 22-20, when Scott City took the lead with a 5-2 run to lead 25-24. After losing their first match point at 25, the Lady Beavers closed with two straight to win 27-25. Ella Rumford had nine kills and Kennedy Holstein and Brooke Hoeme had five kills apiece.

Against Norton, The Lady Jays came out early with the lead, and led for most of the opening set. Trailing 21-19, Scott City rallied for four straight, and after giving up two set points, picked up the win 25-23. The second set saw the Lady Beavers jump out early and gradually pulled away. A 6-1 run midway through the second set put Scott City up 21-11. Norton would make a late rally, but the Lady Beavers would prevail 25-15. Kennedy Holstein had 10 kills and Ella Rumford added eight in the match.

In their third match of the day against Oakley, the Lady Beavers would see the match tied twice and saw the lead change just two times. Trailing 3-2 in the opening set, a 12-1 run put Scott City up 14-4, and they led by as many as 12 on two occasions, before taking a 25-13 opening set win. They never trailed in the second set. The Lady Plainsmen would be scrappy early on, hanging with Scott City for the first half of the set. After Oakley cut the score to 13-10, the Lady Beavers closed the match on a 12-1 run to cruise to the 25-11 victory. Brooklynne Zielke, Paige Vilgamore, Ella Rumford and Brooke Hoeme each recorded four kills.

Wheatland/Grinnell would be the fourth match of the day for Scott City. The Lady Thunderhawks would hang early with Scott City, as they pulled midway through the first set to within 11-9. However, the Lady Beavers would pull away in the opening set to win 25-13. Scott City led for a good chunk of the second set, leading 18-14, when Wheatland/Grinnell climbed right back in the set. They tied the set at 23, and after the Lady Beavers had match point at 24-23, would close with the final three points to force a third set at 26-24. The third set alone had eight ties and four lead changes. Scott City led 15-11 when a 5-1 Lady Thunderhawk run tied the set up at 16. After that, it was all Lady Beavers. Scott City closed the match on a 9-3 run to win 25-19.

The final match of the day featured the two unbeaten teams on the day between Lebo and Scott City, and the match wouldn’t disappoint. It would be a match that saw 28 ties and 14 lead changes. Neither team had a lead of more than five points throughout. Lebo led 18-14 in the first set, only to see the Lady Beavers come racing back to have set point at 24-21. The Lady Wolves tied the set at 24, and after trailing 25-24, closed the first set with three straight to win 27-25. It was much the same in the second set, as the set wouldn’t see a lead bigger than three. Trailing 18-16, Scott City would make a 4-0 run and lead 20-18. Lebo tied the set at 23, before the Lady Beavers forced a third set with a 25-23 win. In the third set, Lebo would take the lead at 12-11, and gradually pull away, and had match point at 24-19. Scott City would make one final surge by getting to within 24-23, but the Lady Wolves recorded the final point to take the set and match, 25-23, on their way to the tournament title in their first appearance. Paige Vulgamore had eight kills, Brooke Hoeme had six kills and Ella Rumford and Kennedy Holstein added five kills.

Scott City Coach Shelby Kite

Saturday’s Records
Lebo 5-0, Scott City 4-1, Norton 3-2, Lakin 2-3, Wheatland/Grinnell 1-4, Oakley 0-5

Scores
Scott City def Lakin 25-20, 27-25; Wheatland/Grinnell def Oakley 25-20, 29-27; Lakin def Oakley 25-14, 25-14; Lebo def Norton 25-23, 25-20; Lakin def Wheatland/Grinnell 26-24, 25-17; Scott City def Norton 25-23, 25-15; Norton def Wheatland/Grinnell 25-19, 19-25, 25-12; Lebo def Oakley 25-15, 25-17; Lebo def Lakin 25-25, 25-17, 25-14; Norton def Oakley 25-15, 25-17; Scott City def Wheatland/Grinnell 25-13, 24-26, 25-19; Scott City def Oakley 25-13, 25-11; Lebo def Wheatland/Grinnell 25-20, 25-18; Norton def Lakin 18-25, 25-21, 25-20; Lebo def Scott City 27-25, 23-25, 25-23