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Nevada drops heartbreaker to Smith-Cotton
Nevada Daily Mail
The Nevada Tigers stunning third set comeback came up just short against Sedalia Smith-Cotton, Thursday night in Wynn Gym, as they fell in three hotly contested sets, (25-20), 27-25, and (29-27).
"I think this was the most intense match we've had," volleyball coach Ashley Thoreson said. "We proved ourselves tonight, even though it was a loss."
The loss drops Nevada to 6-2 on the season. Both of Nevada's losses this year have come against Smith-Cotton.
Nevada trailed 6-0 and 12-3 in the decisive third set, before putting together a dramatic rally, as they eventually tied the match 18-18.
"My message in every time out was 'swing first,"' Thoreson said. "We just started tipping and two-hand throwing balls over the net, which isn't going to win you a ball game."
Thoreson said she also stressed to her team that they needed to set up plays for senior middle blocker Rilie Good.
"Once they started to do that, Smith-Cotton seemed to not be able to handle us very well," she said.
"If we would have came out like that the whole set, we would have been fine. But that third set, we had a hard time, and dug ourselves a huge hole."
The Tigers seemingly had all the momentum heading into the third set, after escaping the second set by the narrowest of margins.
Trailing 24-21 in the second set, Sedalia middle blocker Abby Knight, came through with a clutch kill.
With the Tigers up 24-23, Good unloaded a hard spike, which was called out of bounds, awarding a point to Sedalia and tying the score. Nevada regrouped and led 26-25 with Good serving. Smith-Cotton then committed a serve-receive error, handing the second set to Nevada.
Thoreson said her team had trouble defending Knight throughout the match.
"We were scrappy tonight, but she's a good hitter," Thoreson said.
With the score tied 22-22 in the third set, Good heeded Thoreson's advice about staying aggressive, and went for a kill. However, Smith-Cotton defenders came up with a block at the net, giving them a 23-22 edge.
On the ensuing play, Good was again blocked at the net. Thoreson indicated this sequence of events was the game's turning point.
"Those are things we'll learn from," she said. "But we did a good job of getting her the ball. Our passing was good, and Morgan (McNeley) was working her tail off to get Rilie the ball."
Despite being blocked at the net late, Thoreson said she was happy with Good's overall performance.
"I just kept telling her 'Swing away, swing away,'" she said. "I gave her the green light to just go. So I can't fault her for that."
After another hard spike by Good, Nevada tied the score at 26-26. However, Smith-Cotton took three of the next four points to seal the victory.
Good had a monster performance, with 22 kills on the night. Fellow senior, McNeley, added 21 assists.
The Nevada junior varsity team defeated Sedalia 25-13, 26-24. While the "C" team won, 25-15, 25-23.
Nevada next plays in the Pittsburg volleyball tournament, Saturday, with games beginning at 9 a.m.