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’Hounds win 8th straight match
About two weeks ago, Fort Scott Community College’s volleyball team was struggling to remain in contention for post-season play. They were 10-11 coming off a loss to then-No. 1 Johnson County, had lost five of their previous six matches and were in ninth place in the Jayhawk Conference’s Eastern Division, one spot out of a playoff position.
Since then, Fort Scott has won 10 of 11 and eight matches in a row, including Wednesday night’s three-set sweep of Hesston in Jayhawk Conference-Eastern Division play at Arnold Arena on Sophomore Night.
After that loss to Johnson County on October 3, which put them at 1-5 in the division, the Greyhounds went to an event at Central-Columbus that weekend and won three of four matches, including a 3-1 win over then-No. 13 Bismarck State. They also took then-No. 18 Northeast, Neb. to five sets before falling. A 3-1 win over North Platte in the last match of the weekend was the first win in their current unbeaten streak.
After beating Hesston, 25-14, 25-18, 25-17, Fort Scott is now sixth in the division at 4-5, 20-12. They passed the Larks, who fell into seventh at 3-5, 11-15. The ’Hounds are also a match behind fifth-place Neosho County, which is 5-4, 18-18. They will need to finish one match ahead of the Panthers in order to earn the No. 5 seed in the post-season because Neosho swept Fort Scott at Chanute on September 10.
Fourth place is out of reach as the Greyhounds are three matches behind Highland (6-1, 30-2) with only one conference match remaining next Wednesday at last-place Allen.
Fort Scott’s defense was in total control through Wednesday night’s match as Hesston could almost never hold serve. Of the 14 points the Larks scored in the first set, only two came while they were serving.
Abbie Casper’s ace ended a 3-0 run that made the score 6-3 in favor of the Greyhounds, who trailed twice in the entire match. The set ended with three straight Fort Scott points, the last coming on a double-team block by Mykah Wingerter and Madison Dehlinger.
Hesston’s first lead of the evening came at the start of the second match. The Larks scored the first point but the ’Hounds scored the next 5 with Karlee Stanley serving two aces.
Another long run, a 10-2 run, made it 16-9 as, again, the Greyhounds were able to prevent the Larks from holding serve. Only 7 of 18 Hesston points came while serving.
A Hana Ronnebaum kill closed out the second set.
The Larks held a 3-1 lead in the third set. But Fort Scott scored 5 straight points as Wingerter had 3 kills. Hesston got within 6-5 but never led again.
Fort Scott stats show Brittany Barnekoff leading the Greyhounds with 11 kills while Wingerter finished with 9. Sophie Mader handed out 31 assists. Casper came up with 24 digs while Emily Jackson had 11. Dehlinger was credited with 5 blocks.
After the match, Fort Scott’s sophomores — Jackson, Stanley, Ronnebaum, Barnekoff, Wingerter, and Annalise Whitcomb — were honored.
NOTES — The win over Hesston gives Fort Scott 20 wins in a season for the seventh time in head coach Lindsay Hill’s eight-year tenure. Prior to Hill’s arrival, FSCC volleyball had won 20 or more matches just seven times in the previous 32 seasons of play (there was no team from 1981-83)....
Hill, already the school’s all-time winningest coach, needs just two wins to reach 200. She has a record of 198-92 as of Wednesday night’s win. The next-winningest coach at Fort Scott, Kerry Messersmith, won 73 matches — 38 in 1989 and 35 in 1990....