Eagles fall to SCC in finals
UNIONTOWN -- Southern Coffey County swept Uniontown in the championship match of the Uniontown Invitational here Saturday, 25-21, 27-25.
The Eagles (27-2) and Titans won their pools with undefeated 4-0 marks. But UHS head coach Jackie Hall said that passing struggles in pool play caught up to her team in the finals.
"We had some good play in the pool but we did struggle all day with our passing," Hall said. "It was something that had really improved in the last few weeks. But at times, we were hesitant as to who needed to take the ball and that cost us, especially in the SCC match."
The Eagles defeated Frontenac in the first match of pool play, 25-14, 25-18. Jacy Ermel had 9 kills while Abbie Smith had 8.
In the second game, the Eagles swept Northeast-Arma, 25-19, 25-7. Ermel and Smith each had 8 kills.
Olathe Metro Academy took the Eagles to three games but Uniontown prevailed, 21-25, 25-14, 25-15. Smith racked up 12 kills and Ermel had 8.
In the last match of pool play, Uniontown defeated Pleasanton, 25-21, 27-25. Smith picked up 10 kills.
Pleasanton's other pool matches were a 25-12, 25-18 loss to Frontenac, a 25-19, 25-13 loss to Metro Academy and a 25-15, 25-18 loss to Northeast. Statistics from Pleasanton's matches were not available.
Southern Coffey County advanced to the finals by beating Marmaton Valley, 25-11, 25-11; Riverton, 25-14, 25-22; Crest, 25-21, 25-21; and Yates Center, 25-12, 25-14.
SCC finished up with its sweep of Uniontown and a perfect 5-0 mark for the day without losing a single game.
"SCC played great defense," Hall said. "They covered the floor well. They hit balls that normally would be a kill for us. They just kept digging them up and that allowed them the opportunity to attack the ball back at us. We had trouble with setting our block and covering. Both those things are fixable and we will be concentrating on that this week."
The third-place match saw Riverton sweep Olathe Metro Academy, 25-22, 25-17.