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Comets hang tough, but fall to Greyhounds in three
Nevada Daily Mail
Host Cottey College lost in three sets to visiting Fort Scott Community College, but the second go-round this season between the two teams was tighter, with the Comets falling 25-15, 25-18, 25-20 Monday night.
The first encounter between the teams resulted in the Greyhounds prevailing by margins of 9, 15, and 6.
FSCC, ranked among the top teams nationally, improved to 29-8, while Cottey fell to 6-10.
Julia Stringer was dominant at the net for FSCC. Each time Cottey, led by Regan Kannady and Kelsey Davidson, attempted to build momentum, Stringer had an answer.
The freshman hitter from Topeka finished with 16 kills. When she wasn't forcefully sending the ball back over the net, sophomore outside hitter Shelbey Baker or freshman outside hitter Brandi Huesman was putting the ball away for the visitors. Each of them had nine kills.
Stringer's kill percentage was .560 for the match. Kortney Blaufuss racked up 40 assists.
Comets Coach Marla Kannady-Foreman was philosophical after the match, noting her team had made strides from the first encounter between the two teams.
She also pointed out that playing such a strong team was good preparation for the upcoming post season.
"The match we played was one to get us ready for our region, district tournament for sure. Fort Scott has one of the best setters I have seen on my game schedule in quite some time. She had my blockers on the move, and even faked out more than not.
"Plus, add the quick tempo setting system that (FSCC Coach) Lindsay (Hill) has in place, and it's no wonder they are third in the standings for the Jayhawk Conference. They are at their strongest I have seen in a few years, and that setter does have a way of hiding which direction she is going with the ball. It's fun to watch her."
Cottey started the opening set strong, with Kannady especially effective as the Comets managed a 4-3 lead.
The Greyhounds went ahead 6-5 and the teams swapped points, with Kannady's kill giving the home team a 13-12 edge.
At that point, Stringer took over, getting consecutive kills and the visitors ran off 10 straight points.
It was Baker who put the exclamation point on a 25-14 first-set victory.
Stringer started off the second set for FSCC with another kill and the Greyhounds forged a 10-5 lead with Baker serving.
Huesman connected twice before Kannady answered for Cottey to close to 13-11.
The difference stayed between two and four points as Madelyn Underwood and Davidson kept the home team close.
Again, the Greyhounds began edging away as Stringer and Huesman pushed them out to a 21-16 advantage that grew to the final 25-18 margin.
Cottey began the third set similar to the first, managing a 4-3 lead but the visitors went ahead to stay at 9-8.
The Comets did get within 17-16 but Baker and Huesman connected on successive points for a 20-16 difference.
Cottey rallied again, getting within 21-19 but Huesman put together two straight points and Baker's final kill netted a 25-20 finale.
Kannady finished with the highest hitting percentage, at 32. She added 11 kills, with Kelsey Davidson also having 11 kills and 10 digs. Regan also had two blocks and 18 digs.
Morgan Taylor chipped in with six kills and 11 digs.
Maddie Lugenbeel was credited with 17 assists, with Kannady adding 10.
"I used a different lineup for game one, and even though we hadn't practiced it much, we were able to line up 15 points against a tough team," noted the coach. "Our hitting percentage didn't quite match up with theirs for each game, but at least we kept ours in the double digits at 20, 13, and 24.
"Because of the way the lineup was for game one, Kelsey, Maddie and Regan all knew they needed to step up, and did so accordingly. We were tied at 13 before allowing Fort Scott to make a 10-point run on us.
"The libero for Ft. Scott found a weak spot in our serve receive and took advantage of it. Plus, we just made silly mistakes on hits and passing."
Cottey had 13 hitting errors, eight service errors, and six serve receive errors.
"Games two and three were more typical of our main lineup, and we kept things close until the end with those as well. It was 11-13 at one point, and 15-18 in game two, while holding tight 13-15 and 16-17 scores on game three.
"We did play with lots of energy and determination. I didn't really see that look of fear, but rather that tenacious, 'Let's go to work' attitude, which is very healthy for us this late in the season."
Cottey travels to Allen County Wednesday, Nov. 5, for the Comets' last regular season match before post season.