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Bison take roar from Tigers in four
McCOOK, Neb. - Not even a rare Hall of Famer's flub could stop the McCook Bison from delivering one of their best volleyball season openers in recent memory Thursday night.
"I botched it. I put the wrong name down in the linuep," 700-win coach Dennis Troester admitted about a violation to start the fourth set against visiting Tigers.
However, Troester promptly redeemed him- self with the perfect decision: sacrifice a timeout rather than give those Tigers one quick point.
"We didn't start down 1-0. We were a little worried about serve-receive and we were on the side of the court where we had lost (the second set). All those things can come into the mental side of the game," Troester said. "It all worked out. We still had one timeout left at the end."
Most importantly, the Bison made every point in a super-tight final fourth set.
Junior Bailey Honn showed her own comeback ability, shaking off a few first-game errors to blast one late tie-breaking point right through Tiger blockers.
"It took me all game to get it going," she said.
Now leading 23-22, teammate Cameron Lashley promptly served up match point for McCook.
Yet Hastings somehow caught the Bison again at 24-24.
McCook's best players didn't even blink as the time reached near 10 p.m. in this long roller-coaster of emotions on opening night that began with a Bison junior varsity victory.
Instead, a 25th point was quickly scored and when Riley "The Rocket" Sis blurred one more shot past Hastings' best blocks....
McCook could happily start savoring a sweet 25-17, 17-25, 27-25, 26-24 season-opening win.
"It hasn't happened in the three years I've been here," Troester said. "And we did a lot of good things tonight. There's always a lot to work on, but we played well."
Few played a better all-around game than junior Jaden Bryant. Besides 10 kills, she hustled to 25 digs and delivered five ace serves -- both Bison team bests.
It was Bryant who served the final huge points of McCook's set three win.
Ironically, Hastings was leading 25-24 until apparently making its own unwanted substitution.
Referees ruled this player had to stay in and Hastings quickly served its potential winning point into the net.
Bryant followed with two tough well-placed serves turning into the final points of a 27-25 win.
The Bison had blown an 18-9 before rallying to take this 2-1 set lead.
"I'd say one of the things we need to work on is communication out on the floor. We had two people going for the ball a number of times," Troester observed.
The ball went to a per- fect starting McCook's fourth set. Junior Holli Thomas served McCook ahead 4-0 just as he helped the Bison build an early lead in their opening-set triumph.
When Hastings made one final rally attempt, the Bison knew again where a volleyball belonged:
Right where Sis could punish it.
"She's our leading hitter from last season," Troester confirmed. "That's where we wanted it (for the final point)."
The Bison (1-0 record) enjoyed a great beginning to an opening homestand.
They'll be at McCook High's gymnasium for matches next week against Ogallala on Tuesday and the Holdrege Dusters Thursday evening.
In other words, two more terrific chances for the Bison home fans to make a great impact.
"Our student body was great tonight," Troester proclaimed.
"Now we'll carry this on to next week," Honn concluded.
Kills
Riley Sis 11
Jaden Bryant 10
Digs
Holli Thomas 25
Bryant 25
Bailey Honn 11
JoAnn Neel 10
Assists
Tatum Radel 13
Thomas 11
Ace Serves
Bryant 5
Thomas 3
Erika Fisher 2
JV rallies
The McCook junior varsity volleyball girls shook off a first-set defeat to beat Hastings in three 14-25, 25-22, 15-2 Thursday evening.
"They played with a lot of heart, determination and teamwork," coach Audrey Feeney commented.
"I am really proud of them and excited to see what the rest of our season brings!"