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The Big Rally
No. 6-ranked Coffeyville was just 2 points away from taking the fifth and final set from No. 14 Fort Scott Community College in Wednesday night's Jayhawk Conference-Division II battle at Arnold Arena.
Up 13-11, the Red Ravens had serve. But instead of setting up one of her teammates, sophomore setter Mickey Trimble took Hanna White's pass and found an empty spot on Coffeyville's side of the net.
That gave the Greyhounds (1-0 conference, 5-0 overall) the momentum they badly needed. The Ravens (0-1, 5-1) still led 14-13 with the serve moments later. But Trimble set up Michaela Pfaff for back-to-back kills and then gave to sophomore Brette Moore for the final blast of the night to give Fort Scott a five-set win, 12-25, 25-19, 15-25, 29-27, 16-14.
"We talked about competing to win instead of just waiting for them to take the game," Fort Scott head coach Lindsay Hill said. "We stressed that all week long, compete to win, compete to win. It clicked in the fifth game."
It was the first time that Fort Scott beat a ranked conference opponent since downing No. 10 Johnson County in four sets in October of 2014.
The Greyhounds were also dangerously close to falling in four sets despite holding leads of 6-3 and 10-5. A 7-1 rally gave the Ravens a 21-20 lead in the fourth set and they'd go on to tie it at 24 and 25 before taking a 27-26 lead on a Fort Scott error.
Turner got a kill to give serve back to the 'Hounds and tie the score. Moore blocked a Coffeyville attack for the 28th point and also had the final kill of that set.
Fort Scott, with four or five freshmen on the court most of the time, never led in the first set and trailed 20-7 at one point. The 'Hounds only scored one point when they had the serve in that set.
"We have to get consistent," Hill said. "When you have five freshmen on the floor, that's kind of what happens. We just have to get consistent and we'll be fine."
The 'Hounds pulled away in the second set, scoring 5 of 6 points in a late stretch to make it 19-13. Freshman Kayln Beel scored the final point of that set for FSCC.
Fort Scott led the third set 7-2 but Coffeyville went on a 12-1 run to take control at 16-10 and also scored the last four points of the set, closing that one out on an ace by Fabiola Aviles.
Moore finished the night with 19 kills for the "Hounds to lead all players. Turner had 14 kills. Trimble handed out 52 assists and Fort Scott High graduate Katie Gorman came up with 29 digs.
Moore served 3 aces while Heather Huesman picked up 13 digs and Turner had 10.
Coffeyville's kill percentage dropped as the match went on. The Ravens had a .480 kill percentage in the first set but only .188 in the fifth, showing that they also struggled with consistency.
"They played well," Hill said of Coffeyville. "There were times when we played really well. I think both teams, once they get consistent, will be there right at the top six or seven in the nation."
The Greyhounds will spend the weekend in Norfolk, Neb., at an invitational hosted by Northeast Community College. Among the teams Fort Scott is scheduled to play are No. 8 Kirkwood, Iowa and No. 9 Central-Columbus.