Nevada volleyball wins Carl Junction tournament

By Joe Warren

Nevada Daily Mail

The Nevada Lady Tigers wanted to show that their loss in straight sets at home to College Heights to open the season was an aberration, and not a true measure of their abilities.

What better way than to beat the same team on a neutral court to claim the championship of a tournament?

Nevada did just that Saturday, beating College Heights 25-20 and 28-26 to win the Carl Junction Invitational and cap a day when the Lady Tigers went 3-0-1.

"We were able to show College Heights the team we are rather than the team they played at the beginning of the season," Nevada coach Sharla Wilkerson said. "We were able to get a little revenge."

Veronica Mosier paced the team with 11 kills in the title match, and also had 16 digs.

Also with 16 digs and eight kills was Wendi Jones. Brittany Crockett led the team with four blocks, and the two setters did well with Ashley Beckett finishing with 17 assists and Hillary Adams finishing with 15.

The Lady Tigers cruised through the tournament, only losing one game the entire day.

The game they did lose came against Joplin during pool play. Nevada lost the first game in the match 25-20, before battling back to win the second game 31-29.

Brittany Crockett played well throughout the tournament, but particularly stepped up against Joplin, registering eight kills and eight blocks.

In pool play the teams play two games regardless of who wins, so matches do not last too long and throw the schedule off.

The Lady Tigers opened the tournament with a win over Springdale, 25-18 and 25-15.

Then they played Joplin and after splitting there went on to play conference foe Webb City.

Nevada swept Webb City by identical 25-19 and 25-19 scores.

That set up the championship game between Nevada and College Heights, setting the stage for the rematch.

College Heights had beaten Nevada on Aug. 31, 25-21 and 25-19.

Nevada improved to 9-5-2 this season thanks to their tournament success.

Wilkerson was happy with the consistency of her team during the tournament. Consistency had been a weakness for Nevada going in.

"The girls stayed after it in every game on offense and defense and it showed," Wilkerson said. "They played very well and never let down."

The Lady Tigers will hit the court again today when they travel to Joplin. It will be a chance for the two schools to settle the score after their close match during the Carl Junction tournament.