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Furious rally ends in heartbreak for Lady Tigers
Nevada Daily Mail
An incredible match-point rally brought the Nevada Lady Tigers volleyball team back from the brink in the Class 3 District 11 semifinal game against Warrensburg.
The Thursday night thriller at Harrisonville High School ended the Lady Tigers' season as they were defeated 25-17, (25-18), and 28-26. The loss also snapped Nevada's 13-game winning streak as they concluded their season with a 22-11 overall record.
"They are fighters," Nevada head coach Ashley Thoreson said of her squad. "They play with heart, and they were all very broken that we lost. Losing tonight was not in our plans."
Trailing 24-18 (side-out) in the decisive third set, Nevada put together a memorable 7-0 run to go on top 25-24. A Margaret Cavener ace and Megan Hold kill trimmed Nevada's deficit to 24-21. Nevada then came up with consecutive blocks at the net to cut the Warrensburg lead to 24-23.
"Margaret was back there serving aggressive, and we stayed aggressive at the net," Thoreson said of her team's late-game heroics.
Still facing match-point, Nevada senior Lauren Radspinner dug out a Cassi Slana spike attempt that would have ended the match. After tying the game 24-24, Cavener gave Nevada its first lead of the set with an ace.
"Warrensburg started tipping and we took advantage of that," Thoreson said. "It was a new ballgame at 24-24 and I really thought we had them."
The teams continued to trade blows and Warrensburg evened the match at 25 apiece, followed by a Hold kill to hand the Lady Tigers a 26-25 edge.
Warresnburg senior outside hitter Lauren Stangel's dump in between Nevada defenders knotted the game 26-26. Warrensburg then regained the lead at 27-26 with a Slana tap at the net straight down to the floor.
After a long back-and-forth, Ashley Adkisson's kill dropped in to advance Warrensburg to the district championship game.
"We handed them two pretty much free balls in a row," Thoreson said. "We knew that we had to keep swinging and we got out of our system and had a let down right there."
Thoreson said self-inflicted errors hurt her team. "We made a lot of errors that we have not made in a long time, letting balls drop," she said. "We weren't as aggressive on our blocks. We had to penetrate and we just weren't doing that."
Thoreson also credited Warrensburg for its tremendous play.
"Warrensburg is a good team," she said. "They have big swingers and they dug everything tonight. We were swinging hard and they were digging, so it was a battle."
Nevada came out cold as Warrenburg seized control of the first set with a 9-2 lead. An 11-3 blitz, capped by a Mindy Hendren block for a point, put Nevada on top 13-12.
After calling a timeout, Warrensburg responded by taking 13 of the next 17 points en route to the first set victory.
"Our passing is our strength and you probably couldn't tell that tonight," Thoreson said. "Our back row struggled a bit with ball control, making it hard for Ellie (Smith) to get a good set-up to our hitters."
Stangel dazzled during the extended-run, with all-out hustle, making play after play.
"We let (Stangel) get a huge run on us in the first set and we just couldn't fight back," Thoreson said.
"I think every set she had a huge run on us. And we kind of dug ourselves a hole too big we couldn't fight out of. Stangel was scrappy in the back row. Anything that went her way, she got up."
Things looked bleak as Nevada fell into a quick 4-0 hole to open the second set. The Lady Tigers were able to get back on track with Smith serving, as she recorded two aces during a 5-0 run that gave Nevada a 5-4 lead.
Trailing 9-5, the Lady Tigers rattled off an 8-2 run to go on top 13-11. From there, Nevada cruised to the 25-18 second set victory.
In addition to trailing 24-18 in the third set, the Lady Tigers also trailed by scores of 13-6, 18-12, and 20-14 before clawing back to take the lead.
Thoreson said she will always remember this group of players for their light-hearted nature and desire to get better on the court.
"We started the season 1-4," Thoreson said. "We just weren't playing competitive with that fight and drive to win. I don't know what clicked for them but they finally got it ---- that they have to play hard to win."
Thoreson said the team camaraderie was strong.
"They really have done a good job of supporting each other," she said. "They didn't really get down on each other and they were always building each other up. And that's why we've come so far ---- because we had the same goal and they accepted roles and played together."
Nevada's departing seniors include Lexie Overton, Hendren, Radspinner, and Jansen Miller.
"We're going to miss those seniors," Thoreson said. "They were the core of our defense (Overton, Radspinner and Miller) and the scrappiness they brought.
"We will miss Lexie being a vocal leader. Mindy on the front row has improved by leaps and bounds since the beginning of the season. She leads us in blocking and it will be hard to replace that."