Comets drop regular-season finale to Northeastern Oklahoma

The Cottey Comets concluded its 2016 volleyball slate Wednesday night at Hinkhouse Center with a three-set loss to the visiting Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College Lady Norse.

With the 25-12, 25-12, 25-20 loss, Cottey enters postseason play 11-14 overall.

The Comets played by far its best volleyball of the night in set three, as they led by scores of 12-8, and 14-12, before the Lady Norse stormed back. For most of the night, the Comets had trouble containing hard hitting sophomore Mackenzie David, whose thunderous front row spike ended the match.

For Cottey, sophomore Melanie Dillon tallied 10 digs, eight assists, four kills, two blocks and an ace. Fellow sophomore Reita Andrew finished the night with eight digs and a pair of aces; Lily Brockus, eight digs; Maddy Hidbon, six digs and two aces; Sara Marshall, six digs, three kills and an assist; while Tabitha Jackson chipped in with three kills.

Cottey head coach Marla Kannady-Foreman shared her thoughts on the now completed regular-season.

"Our five returning players had a goal to surpass the seven wins from last year, and they succeeded in doing so,' Kannady-Foreman said.

"Even as they look at the 11-14 record, they had at least two, maybe three matches where they feel they didn't perform as needed to get the win. This, in turn, would have ended us with a 13-12 record going into postseason play."

The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region II tournament is set for Nov. 4-5 in St. Louis.

"There is some controversy about how the regional-district tournament will look," Kannady-Foreman said. "Northeastern Oklahoma stands the risk of not being eligible for the tournament because of a contract signed in March by the Region 16 and Region 2 directors."

Kannady-Foreman continued, "If this happens, there will just be the five region schools playing Nov. 4-5. Apparently, NEO has to have at least a .500 record due to being the only Division II school in Oklahoma. Until this situation gets ironed out, I really cant say how the seeding will go."