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Tigers swept in home opener
Fort Scott High's home volleyball opener did not go as hoped for Thursday night at the FSHS gymnasium.
Playing tough competition from the Frontier League, the Tigers lost all three matches on the evening.
The Tigers first lost to Prairie View, 25-20, 25-18. Then they fell to Osawatomie, 25-22, 25-13. Finally, in their best match of the night, they were defeated by Louisburg in three games, 25-12, 18-25, 25-22.
"Tonight, the competition was very tough," Fort Scott head coach Kelly Toll said. "I think our girls might have played a little intimidated playing at home for the first time. The nerves finally started to wear off during the third match."
The Tigers, 3-6, had a great deal of difficulty holding serve. They never scored more than three points in a row in their first two matches.
However, down 5-0 to Louisburg in game one of the finale, Fort Scott tied it with five straight points, which included one of Heather Rickerson's three aces.
Although they lost game one, the Tigers started off game two with a 6-2 lead as Rickerson served another ace during a five-point run. Although the Wildcats managed to tie it at 15-15, Fort Scott was able to take the lead again on a Louisburg error and never gave it up again. The Tigers scored the game's final five points, capping it on a kill by Annie Gladbach.
Fort Scott held a 10-6 lead in the third game as two aces by Anna Miles capped a seven-point rally.
The Tigers' lead was 20-17 but Louisburg took serve and held it to go up 23-20. The Wildcats took the match when they were given a kill after an attack that went out of bounds was ruled to have been tipped by a Tiger.
"We're struggling with confidence again, coming off a rough season last year," Toll said. "They're just building some confidence. They played sometimes a little unsure of themselves."
Brittany Bingesser also had two kills for the Tigers in this match and also dealt nine assists. Rickerson, Ashley Middleton and Crystal Colvin were each credited with three kills.
In the Prairie View match, Miles had two kills, Bingesser two assists and Gladbach two blocks.
In the Osawatomie match, Mills and Middleton each had five kills. Bingesser dished eight assists and Gladbach had three blocks.
Prairie View swept the quad, defeating Louisburg in two games and Osawatomie in three. Osawatomie also beat Louisburg in three.
The Tigers won two of three duals Saturday at Erie. They lost to Erie, 25-22, 25-13, and defeated Parsons, 25-18, 21-25, 25-23, and St. Paul, 17-25, 25-17, 27-25.
Against Erie, Middleton led with four kills. In the Parsons match, Colvin recorded five kills and Brooke Clements was credited with four. Colvin also served three aces.
In the St. Paul match, Gladbach and Hannah Hawkins each had four kills while Miles had three. Bingesser picked up two aces.
The Tigers are idle until next Thursday when they will open Southeast Kansas League play against Parsons and Coffeyville at Parsons.
"We're looking forward to that date, hoping we play up to our potential," Toll says. "This is a team that has a great amount of ability of potential and they are going to reach that but it's a growing process."
JUNIOR VARSITY -- The Tiger JV played these same three teams Tuesday night at LaCygne. This was originally scheduled to be in Osawatomie but there were problems with the gymnasium floor there.
The Tigers lost to Prairie View, 28-26, 25-23. Shelby Nafzger had seven kills for Fort Scott.
Louisburg defeated the Tigers, 25-16, 25-17. Erica Davis was eight for eight from the service line.
The Tigers defeated Osawatomie, 25-16, 13-25, 25-11. Ashley Cavin was good on 18 of 20 serves and recorded nine aces.
Rachel Allen had four kills for the Tigers and Kelli Davis had four.
The record for the Tiger JV is 3-3. Fort Scott will host the Southeast Kansas League Junior Varsity Tournament Saturday starting at 9 a.m. There will be two courts in use at the FSHS gym and one at Buck Run Community Center.
The nine SEK teams will be split into three pools of three teams each with Fort Scott playing all those games at the FSHS gym. After a break, placement pools will be held at those same locations. The third-place teams in the preliminary pools will play for seventh, eighth and ninth at Buck Run. The second-place teams will play for fourth, fifth and sixth at FSHS and the pool winners will play for first, second and third at FSHS.
The Tiger JV will also play at Parsons on Thrusday.