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Strong thunder from the west
MCCOOK, Neb. -- Major college volleyball recruiters may soon be checking out exactly what McCook Bison fans witnessed Tuesday night.
"We've got a couple of possible (NCAA) Division I players," Ogallala coach Steve Morgan said after his Indians pounded a 25-17, 25-14, 25-19 victory across the Bison's home floor. "We'll see. We definitely have great potential with seven seniors."
The unbeaten Indians (3-0) haven't lost a set while sweeping through North Platte, Sidney and now McCook.
They did fall behind the Bison, 5-2, after junior Riley Sis ripped a kill and classmate Bailey Honn had students shouting "ace" with back-to-back unreturnable serves.
Honn's second ace clipped the net and dropped in front of surprised Ogallala defenders.
Yet the Indians showed how old age can still rule a court. They rattled off six straight points and would not be caught again.
"We have to enjoy this because with 11 juniors, they (McCook) will have the veterans next year," Morgan observed. "I thought McCook played really good offense, but were a little suspect in defensive coverage."
Bison coach Dennis Troester offered similar remarks about his team's second varsity match. The Bison are now 1-1 after winning a four-set season opener over Hastings last week.
"We were beaten by a very good team who were able to place the ball consistently in the holes of our defense," Troester said. "We played well at times. But every time we got close to them, they were able to run off a small string of points to pull away."
Bison steam should have been seen in the opening set, especially when Sis "smoked" a free ball to bring McCook within 16-14.
The Indians promptly punctuated Troester's point as they scored the next six for a 22-14 lead en route to their 25-17 opening win.
McCook seemed out of sync to start set two, needing a timeout after falling behind 9-3.
A break helped the Bison regain focus and stay close at 14-10 on junior Cameron Lashley's ace serve.
The Indians retaliated once again whether it was senior Kacey Jaeger's crushing hits, senior Jayme Commins' nasty serves or a deflating double block of McCook's next hit.
The Indians took that next set, 25-14, and then rallied to complete their third straight sweep.
"It's a good win because McCook has a very nice team and a Hall of Fame coach," Morgan said. "They will figure things out and be ready when we see them again."
"We had some good long rallies especially in the third set," Troester concluded.
McCook will play another home match against a familiar foe.
The Holdrege Dusters visit Thursday evening with varsity action scheduled for 7 p.m.
Holdrege has started 0-3 against Hastings, St. Paul and Class A Kearney according to maxpreps.com.
Junior varsity
McCook's younger volleyball girls also brought the momentum of a win over Hastings into the JV match Thursday night.
However, Ogallala did not care while scoring 25-16 and 25-11 wins.
"We look to come back against Holdrege Thursday night, competitive and ready to play," Bison coach Audrey Feeney remarked.