Cottey holds off Fort Scott for five-set victory

FORT SCOTT -- When Cottey College and Fort Scott Community College switched ends of the court midway through the fifth set of their match at Arnold Arena Friday night, the tempo of the match changed in Cottey's favor.

Fort Scott held an 8-7 lead when the teams switched. But the Comets scored the next six points after the switch and won the set 15-11 to finally prevail in the match, three sets to two, after going out to a 2-0 lead.

"We've been struggling all season long with the mental game," Greyhound head coach Sonya Petroski said afterward. "And I think that's what it was. Instead of thinking about all we had to gain, we started thinking about all we had to lose. Just that change in mentality got us. We wanted it so badly that we ended up not playing to our potential because we became scared to make mistakes."

The Greyhounds' season ended with a 5-28 record as they did not qualify for the Region VI Tournament. Cottey improved to 10-11 on the season and will next play in the Region XVI Tournament at Union, Mo., on Nov. 5 and 6.

The Comets scored the last nine points of the first set to win that 25-11. Amanda Taylor served three aces during that run for Cottey.

The 'Hounds scored the first four points of the second set as Tanessa Esry served a pair of aces. But the Comets rallied to take a 7-5 lead.

Fort Scott scored the next four with Katie Van Lue kills starting and finishing the run. Later, Cottey went on a 6-0 run to go up 19-12 and went on to win the second set, 25-17.

Petroski put Salette Schlee, a freshman from Frontenac, into the starting lineup for the third set and she started things off with an ace. Jessica Cook followed up with a pair of kills and Kayla Tarwater had two more as the 'Hounds went out to a 5-0 lead.

"At that point, I was just looking to change anything up because what we were doing wasn't working," Petroski said. "Salette came in and did her job. I wanted her to serve because Heather (Greer) just wasn't doing it. Salette did her job very well. She's been working hard all season long and she's a player I feel I can put in at any point in time and know she's going to perform well."

But Cottey rallied and took a 24-23 lead on an Ashley Helm kill. Heather Wilmes' kill for the 'Hounds tied the match again and Van Lue closed out the set with two kills to give Fort Scott that one, 27-25.

The Greyhounds went out in front in the fourth set as well, this time going up 6-2. Again, Cottey rallied using a 6-0 run to take a 17-15 lead. Fort Scott followed with a 5-1 run that up the 'Hounds up 20-18. They didn't trail again and Tarwater's kill made the final score 25-22.

"The change (after the second set) was just sheer determination," Petroski of the turnaround in her team's play. "They refused to let the sophomores end their season losing in three sets. They were going to push as much as they could so that would not happen."

The fifth set started off with the teams exchanging serve after one or two points as neither could gain momentum. A Cottey error gave the Greyhounds an 8-7 lead as the teams switched sides.

In college volleyball, the fifth set is played first to 15 points instead of 25 and the teams switch sides when one of them reaches eight points first.

Fort Scott's next serve was out of bounds, tying the match. Then a Kailey Kelly kill sparked the Comets on the run that gave them control.

Helm led the Comets with 16 kills while Mar-Kel West had eight. Kelly dished 17 assists and Natalie Larsen handed out 10. Taylor finished with eight blocks and five aces.

Van Lue led Fort Scott with 18 kills and eight blocks. Tarwater had 10 blocks, Cook nine and Racheal Wilmes seven. Esry finished with 24 assists and Paige Clinton dished out nine. Esry also had three aces while Tarwater and Kayla Case each served two.

It was sophomore night for the Greyhounds who will see Cook, Case and Van Lue graduate

"All three have been absolutely wonderful," Petroski said. "They've been here since last year, when we really started rebuilding this program. And they have been three very important parts of the rebuilding. These girls work hard for me all the time. They're great leaders. And they're definitely going to be hard to replace. They're just great people to have on a team."