Comets volleyball defeats Labette County

Cassie Hale returns a volley during Saturday's match against Labette County (Kan.) Community College.

The Cottey College Comets volleyball team played at home in front of the largest crowd of the season Saturday afternoon, taking on Labette Community College on Family Weekend.

"What an amazing day at Cottey," Comets head coach Marla Kannady Foreman said. "We had Family Weekend, which always brings a good crowd to Hinkhouse for the hosting of a volleyball match, where family and friends have an opportunity -- sometimes, the one and only opportunity -- to see their favorite player play volleyball!"

Well, the Comets like to really allow these parents, family and friends to get their money's worth! It was a five-game match, and it was hard to tell who would get the win as the battle began."

Cottey's Jalilah Cox hits a return to the Labette County Cardinals.

The team that ultimately did get the win was the Comets, as Foreman's squad dropped the opening set by a final score of 25-14, then came back to take the next two, 25-21 and 25-19. Labette County came back and took the fourth set, 25-13 and forced a decisive fifth set, which the Comets won by a final score of 15-12.

"This match was an all-out effort from each member of the team," Foreman said. "There were specific strategies which were set in place, and certain roles for each player, which led us to this victory."

Some of those strategies didn't always work out for the Comets throughout the day, however, as they had an uncharacteristically poor day when it came to hitting errors. The best hitting percentage the Comets were able to put up on the day was 40 percent in the third and fifth sets, which was a direct result of an unusually high number of hitting errors, Foreman said.

Cottey's Skyler Ford knocks down one of her team-high three blocks during Saturday's Family Weekend match against the Labette County (Kan.) Community College Cardinals.

"I believe our hitting errors were more than what we have had in a long time, but the good passes made up for that," Foreman said. "When we got the ball to the target, we made things happen. I believe we stayed in system more on Saturday than out of system, and we needed that 'in system' mode to go into this match to be successful."

Kasey Hall and Cassie Hale tied for the team lead with nine kills apiece, on the day. Kelsey Davidson led the Comets with four aces, while Maddie Lugenbeel finished with 24 assists, Skyler Ford had three blocks, and Davidson and Regan Kannady each had 14 digs.

With the win, the Comets improved to 5-9 overall, 2-0 at home on the season. Foreman's squad is scheduled to get right back into action at 6:30 p.m., Wednesday, hosting Wentworth Military Academy, at Hinkhouse Center.