Cottey loses in regional opener

Nevada Daily Mail

The Cottey Comets ended their 2004 volleyball season Saturday when they lost to St. Louis Community College-Meramec in straight sets to open the Region XVI tournament at Florrisant Valley.

Meramec won 30-23, 30-25 and 30-8, advancing to the region title match and knocking Cottey out of the tournament.

Cottey ended the season with an 12-13 record, ending the year with a two-match losing streak.

"Meramec is a tough team," Cottey coach Marla Kennedy said in a press release. "They did sweep us in three games back in late September, but we had been on an upward swing here the last couple of weeks. To lose 8-30 is embarrassing. I'm not claiming we should have won the match, but we are definitely a better team than what we showed at regionals."

Kannady said she thought the team was ready to play when they left for Florrisant Valley on Friday.

"Obviously we weren't as we made too many mental errors to compete with Meramec. I take full responsibility for not having them prepared," Kannady said.

Meramec lost to Longview in the region championship match.

Teresa Parks and Jessie Puskar were named to the Region XVI first team, while Sarah Kintz and Lauren Walker made the second team.

Walker led Cottey in the regional match with 22 assists, while Parks led the team with 10 kills.

Mary Lou Neher had 15 digs to pace Cottey, while Puskar had 13 and Kintz had 11.

Cottey had lost to the Mid-America University junior varsity last week, their final match before heading into the tournament.

The Comets had won six of their previous eight matches.

The only time Cottey and Meramec met in the regular season this year was on Sept. 25 at a quadrangular match in Parsons, Kan.

Meramec won that match 30-19, 30-28 and 30-24.

Cottey will have a large portion of their roster turning over in the offseason. The Comets will have to replace seven of the 10 players from the 2004 squad, since they will be graduating.

In other Cottey athletics news, the basketball team will be opening the 2004-2005 regular season today when they travel to Chanute, Kan., to take on Neosho County Community College. Cottey's home opener will be this Friday at the Hinkhouse Center.