Cougars finish 2nd in league volleyball
Staff writer
With the usual six starters on the court for all five league tournament games Saturday at Hope, the Centre Lady Cougars finished 4-1, losing to Goessel in the championship match.
Little River proved the toughest in pool play, winning the first game 25-18. Centre came back to win the next two 25-22 and 25-17.
In other pool matches, Centre defeated Wakefield in two identical games of 25-10 and Rural Vista 25-13 and 25-17.
Centre played Solomon in the semifinals and won two easy victories, 25-10 and 25-9.
Facing a powerful, undefeated Goessel team, the Lady Cougars were faced with their biggest challenge of the day. They stayed close for the first half of the first game. Trailing by one, 12-11, they lost momentum, and the Bluebirds won 25-13.
Centre trailed 5-0 at the beginning of the second game but caught up and tied the game at 17. The Lady Cougars kept within two points for the remainder of the game but never took the lead. They lost, 25-22, finishing in second place in the Wheat State League.
Shelby Makovec served 16 aces in tournament play. Cacey Simons led at the net, completing 77 of 81 spike attempts including 35 kills. She also had five blocks. Bryanna Svoboda was 78 of 89 with 31 kills, Makenzie Deines 34 of 53 with 16 kills and eight blocks, and Brenna Shields 27 of 37 with 12 kills. Summer Espinoza set the ball correctly 61 of 63 times, 18 resulting in kills.
In a best-3-of-5 competition Oct. 15 at Moundridge, Centre won one match, 25-22, and lost three, 15-25, 15-25, and 22-25.
With a record of 25-9, Centre will be seeded second in the sub-state tournament Saturday at Goessel.