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Tigers open with home sweep
Fort Scott High School's volleyball team opened its season Saturday by sweeping all three opponents in a non-league triangular at the FSHS gymnasium. The Tigers defeated Columbus, 25-4,25-14, Girard 25-19, 10-25, 25-21, and Pittsburg 25-19, 25-22.
Girard won its other two matches, beating Pittsburg 25-16, 26-28, 25-19, and Columbus 26-24, 25-23. Columbus defeated Pittsburg, 25-23, 25-22.
The Tiger showed their potential at time but also had their struggles. The second-game score against Girard especially reflects that as Fort Scott seemed to come out flat after winning the first game and their passing game suffered.
"There's still a lot of things we still need to work on," Fort Scott head coach Carol Bingesser said. "We saw some good things but out passing kind of failed in a couple of games. That second game against Girard, we struggled with our serve receive. We need to work on that. That hurt us against Pittsburg, too, because a lot of times, we pushed our pass too close to the net and with their big girl (Skyler Muff), she just put right back in our face."
Columbus struggled in the first match of the day, failing to score a point through its offense until they trailed 13-1 in the first game. The Tigers served seven aces in that game alone and Megan McDermed posted five kills.
The Titans proved a more formidable opponent the rest of the day, keeping up with the Tigers until a 4-point run, capped by an McDermed ace, created something of a cushion to work with at 12-7. Kori Allen had two aces and Mallory Shelton closed out the game with a kill as the Tigers scored the last 5 points of the match.
The final totals for the Columbus match showed McDermed with 5 kills, Shelton with 4 kills and 4 aces and Kelsey Middleton with 2 blocks. Kenzie Heatherly dished 10 assists.
Girard, a team that may have been underestimated coming into the quadrangular, led 9-7 in the first game. But the Tigers, with Kori Allen serving, scored 11 straight points to take control.
Girard had the long run in the second game, going up 14-3 after a 13-1 run. The Tigers had just 4 kills, all by Shelton, in that game.
The Tigers used a 6-1 run to go up 24-18 in the third game before Girard tried to rally, scoring three straight before Taylor Grant ended the match with a kill.
"Losing that second game against Girard but coming back and regaining our intensity and winning that, that was a big plus," Bingesser said.
Shelton had 11 kills and 4 blocks in the match while Heatherly dished 9 assists.
The Tigers jumped out to a 13-5 lead in the first game against rival Pittsburg. The Purple Dragons played tougher in the second game as transfer Skyler Muff, who was an All-State player at Concordia last season, began to take advantage of her chances at the net. Although the Dragons led only once, at 6-5, the Tigers never led by more than 5 points, which was at 13-8.
The Dragons were able to get within 24-22 before Jenna Campbell ended the match with a kill.
Shelton had 7 more kills and 4 more blocks for the Tigers. Heatherly dished 8 assists while Caitlin Shorter was credited with 5. Heatherly also served 2 aces.
Bingesser, while pleased with the victories, says that the Tigers still have a way to go.
"A couple of games, we kind of struggled with our serves," Bingesser said. "Normally, that's more of our strong suit. For the most part, I thought we hit the ball hard, especially for an opener."
The Tigers will play again this evening at Colgan in Pittsburg. Chanute will be there to round out the triangular.
"Colgan's always tough and Chanute will be tough," Bingesser noted. "We have one (practice) day to regroup and get our act together. We're going to battle for everything."