Tiger season ends; Louisburg wins Sub-State

Fort Scott High's volleyball season came to an end on its home court Saturday afternoon with a 2-set loss to Paola in the first round of the Fort Scott Class 4A-Division I Sub-State Tournament at the FSHS gymnasium.

The Tigers, who finished with a 22-15 record -- 12 wins better than last season -- had taken the third-seeded Panthers (24-16) to three sets in two losses earlier this season. But once Paola figured out how to keep Ericah Shoemaker from hurting them so much, the Panthers were able to take control of the match.

Top-seeded Louisburg (37-2) swept Ottawa in the opening match, 25-19, 25-17, and then defeated the third-seeded Panthers, 19-25, 25-19, 25-18, to advance to this weekend's Class 4A-Division I State Tournament at Salina.

Louisburg and Ottawa (17-21) played the first semifinal and though the Cyclones came into Sub-State with a losing record, they played tough with their season on the line. They led the Wildcats 13-9 in the first set and Louisburg didn't take the lead for the first time until a Cyclone error put them up 17-16.

The Wildcats scored 10 of the last 14 points of the set. But Ottawa continued to be stubborn in the second set, going out to a 7-4 lead before Louisburg went on a 7-1 lead to take control. The Wildcats also scored 6 of the last 7 points of the match.

Fort Scott and Paola took the court next and Shoemaker had 8 kills in the early part of the first set. The Tigers held a 6-2 lead following a tip by Maddi Allen but the Panthers came back to tie it at 7-7.

Shoemaker's eighth kill put the Tigers up 14-12. But Paola began covering her better at that point and she'd only have 2 more kills in the rest of the match.

The Tigers' last lead in the set was 18-16 after Brianne Lawrence had a kill. But then the Panthers scored 8 of the next 9 points to take control.

Lawrence and Jillian Lattimer each had 5 kills for Fort Scott. Ashley Cook handed out 21 assists. Katie Gorman came up with 17 digs.

Paola setter Allison Ozier dished 23 assists. Kelsey Slawson led the Panthers with 8 kills.

The Panthers turned right around to take on Louisburg in the finals and their momentum carried through into the first set. Dynamic play from their back row helped them go out to a 9-2 lead.

Despite having two powerful six-footers -- 6-foot senior Madaline DeShazer and 6' 2" sophomore Madison Turner -- they couldn't get any kills as Paola's Katelyn Bell and Taylor Williams were coming up with nearly everything in the back row.

The Wildcats didn't string any points together until the set was almost over, scoring 5 straight after Paola went up 24-14.

Louisburg continued to struggle as it seemed the rest between matches did the Wildcats more harm than good. They had to rally to take a 9-7 lead in the second set and then had to fight off a later rally when Paola got back within 21-18.

In the second and third sets, the only consistent player for Louisburg was Sidney Dixon, who did most of her damage on the back row. Despite her effort, the Wildcats continued to have difficulty getting any momentum, falling behind 7-3 in the third set.

A couple of Dixon kills and a few Paola errors contributed to a 9-2 stretch that put Louisburg on top 16-11.

Paola got within 21-18 again. But Dixon's kill got the serve back for Louisburg. Then an error and back-to-back kills by Bailey Dvorak, who came on in the third set, gave the Wildcats the match.

Dixon finished with 16 kills for Louisburg while Dvorak had 9. Taylor Domann handed out 30 assists for the Wildcats.

Slawson led Paola with 14 kills. Ozier dished 27 assists. Williams came up with 15 digs while Bell had 13.

The now-divided Class 4A will have both the Division I and Division II State tournaments at Salina.

NOTES -- Chanute (36-1) won its own Sub-State Saturday and will be the only Southeast Kansas League team at any State Tournament. The top-seeded Blue Comets will be in a pool with eighth-seeded Kansas City-Piper (22-16), fifth-seeded Rose Hill (31-8) and fourth-seeded Topeka Hayden (32-8).

The only team that beat Chanute this year, Bishop Miege -- which did so in a September 15 match played in Fort Scott -- is in the opposite pool as the No. 6 seed with a record of 29-10. The only way for the Comets and Lady Stags to have a rematch is for each to advance as one of the top two teams in pool play....