The Highland Volleyball team took on ranked Kansas City Kansas Community College on the Wednesday evening. The Scotties entered this game with a 6 game win streak, looking to continue on.
The whole first set was a battle between the Scotties and the Blue Devils. Mariana Falls and Shailey Caudle stepped up and took control of the net, both contributing big blocks and kills. The Scotties were able to pull away and end the set with a big kill by Caudle to take the set 25-17.
As the second set started the back and forth battle continued. Demi Bartonek and Emily Nelson stepped in and picked up a couple great digs each and with the help from setters Megan Rhule and Josie Vitosh, the front row was able to get the kills added up. With the emotions flying on both teams, and neither team giving up, the Blue Devils stole the set 27-25.
The third set started off rough for the Scotties as the Blue Devils took the lead early forcing a timeout at 2-7. The errors added up for the Scotties and another timeout was needed with the score being 3-14. The fight never subsided as the home team worked to close the gap with great plays by Vitosh, Tyrecia Lukes, and Caudle but it just was not enough as the Blue Devils took the 3rd set 25-17.
Nelson contributed a big Ace and a big stuff block by Lukes to follow helping to close the gap early in the 4th at 8-10. The Blue Devils gained some leverage forcing the Scotties to take their first time out at 9-16. With great effort by Nelson in the backrow and great net plays in the front by Lukes and Caudle the Scotties fell just short in the 4th as the Blue Devils won the match 25-15.
Coach Petock offered her thoughts after the tough loss. "The momentum shift in the 2nd set got us when we made 3 errors at the end of the set. It was all on our side of the court; they did not beat us, we beat ourselves. We will learn from this and move on to the next game."
The backrow digs really stood out as the Scotties had 6 players in double digit digs, totaling 91. Caudle stepped up with 17 kills while Lukes contributed 13. Highland will travel to Ottawa, Kansas to compete against Ottawa JV on Friday, September 9th at 5:30pm. The Scottie volleyball team is now 6-4 on the year.
