EHS volleyball goes 3-2 at Ottawa
By Michael Ashford
Originally published 01:47 p.m., October 1, 2007
Updated 01:47 p.m., October 1, 2007
A few missed opportunities left the Emporia High volleyball team wondering “what if” Saturday at the Ottawa Tournament.
After sweeping through three games of pool play, EHS got a rematch with Mill Valley, a team that had beaten Emporia earlier this season, in the first round of bracket play.
The Lady Spartans held late leads in both games against the Lady Jaguars, but ultimately could not close out either game en route to a 2-0 loss. Emporia (18-8) went on to fall to Blue Valley in the third-place match in two games to finish fourth out of 12 teams.
“Overall, it was still a positive day,” EHS coach Kendra Bloomquist said. “Our girls had a realistic goal to win this tournament, and I liked the way we competed. We showed a lot of fight there against Mill Valley, and that was good.
“Could we have taken advantage of some of the opportunities we had to beat (Mill Valley)? Sure, but we showed competitiveness and composure ... and in the long run, I think that will end up helping us more.”
In Game One against Mill Valley, Emporia got an early cushion when Sadie Webb provided a kill that made it 10-6, and EHS eventually stretched that lead to 15-9. Mill Valley, however, made a run to tie the game at 19, and the two teams traded points to a 23-all tie. The Lady Jaguars notched the final two points of the match to take Game One, 25-23.
In Game Two, Mill Valley used a 9-0 run to turn a 13-11 EHS lead into a 20-13 Lady Jaguar advantage. Mill Valley was just one point away from ending the match not long after at 24-18, but Emporia got kills from Hilary Heinrichs, Ashley Lake and Taylor Hollond (2) plus a block by Lake and Hollond to tie the score at 25. Emporia took leads at 26-25, 27-26 and 28-27 but could not close it out, as Mill Valley rallied each time and then scored three-straight points to win the game and the match, 30-28.
“That was tough,” Bloomquist said. “There was a good and a bad to that match. We showed progress against a team that had beaten us earlier this year and we never quit when a lot of other teams might have folded it up. We didn’t take advantage of the chances we had to win, but in all, I think the positives far outweigh the negatives.”
Hollond led Emporia with eight kills against Mill Valley, while Heinrichs had six and Decker and Webb tallied five apiece. Decker and Lake had 16 and 14 digs, respectively.
The loss dropped the Lady Spartans to the third-place match, where an uninspired EHS squad struggled offensively against Blue Valley in losing in straight sets, 25-12, 25-15.
“Just a big emotional letdown,” Bloomquist said, “which is very uncharacteristic of this team. We just couldn’t find it.”
The two late losses spoiled an otherwise good day for Emporia, as the Lady Spartans got through pool played unscathed at 3-0 without dropping a single game.
EHS opened the tournament with a dominating 25-8, 25-13 victory over Fort Scott, a match that saw Hollond and Decker each tally three service aces.
Emporia followed with a 25-17, 25-20 sweep over Olathe North. Lake totaled seven kills and 16 digs to lead EHS in both categories.
In the final round of pool play, the Lady Spartans battled to a 25-23, 25-23 win over the host school, Ottawa. Game One featured 11 ties, including the final one at 23-all. Decker and Lake then teamed up for a block and Lake slammed home a kills to give EHS the 1-0 lead, and then in Game Two, Webb talled two kills and an Ottawa hitting error helped EHS break a 22-all tie to give the Lady Spartans the sweep.
Webb led EHS with seven kills while Amber Miller had 14 digs against Ottawa.
Emporia will be back in action Tuesday when it travels to Manhattan for the Manhattan Quad.
Emporia’s Nasrazadani, Sosa impressive
in Manhattan
Singles players Rose Nasrazadani and Jordan Sosa each picked up a pair of victories Saturday at the Manhattan Quad to lead the Emporia High girls tennis team.
Both players got their victories in the same fashion, dropping their first matches of the day before rebounding to win their final two matches.
At the No. 1 singles spot, Sosa opened the Quad with an 8-1 loss to Manhattan’s Alicia Moran. Sosa then bounced back to post victories of Junction City’s Chelsea Agala, 8-0, and Shawnee Heights’ Sara Schreimer, 8-7(7-2).
The No. 2 singles player, Nasrazadani, continued her strong play as of late by following an 8-3 loss to Taylor Manges of Manhattan with victories over Lindsay Roberts of Junction City, 8-7(9-7) and Antoinette Cutler of Shawnee Heights, 8-3.
Emporia struggled somewhat in doubles play, as the No. 2 doubles team of Briana Alvarado and Chelsea Schmidt posted Emporia’s lone doubles victory of the day with an 8-2 win over Shawnee Heights’ Sarah Braden and Jenna Calkins. The No. 1 doubles team of Noelle Waters and Kelli Sippola fell in all three matches.
Emporia is back in action today in Manhattan for the Centennial League Championships.