LADY VIKINGS TAKE 4TH at PRE-SEASON TOURNEY
By William for CrossDove Writers/mcpherson-county-ks.com
(SPONSORED BY CROSSDOVE MARKETING)
(Photos by Robyn’s Photography)
The 2019 season kicked off on Saturday in Hesston for the Smoky Valley High volleyball team as they finished 4-2 for the day in the annual Central Kansas League (CKL) Pre-Season Tournament.
In the first match of the day, the Lady Vikings hammered Pratt 25-13, 25-9, led by Elyse Ramsey with 13 assists, while Abby Rose scored 3 kills, 1 solo block and 4 block assists.
Hillsboro was the second match and they forced Smoky Valley to go three sets before the Lady Vikings won 24-23, 22-25, 25-14. Kerington Haxton had an outstanding match in getting 18 successful serves which included 2 aces while also scoring 5 kills along with Addie Heitschmidt, who also had 5 ace serves. Abby Rose had 17 successful serve-receive passes and the tandem of McKinley Johnson and Elyse Ramsey each had 12 assists.
After dropping the first set, 24-26, to Halstead in match three, the Lady Vikings roared back to score 25-21, 25-16 wins and take the match. Addie Heitschmidt was the star of the match in scoring 18 successful serves, while Bri Franklin had 11 kills and Madi Tolle scored 4 block assists.
Smoky Valley finished out Pool A play by handling Haven, 25-20, 25-13, sending them into the Championship bracket. Elyse Ramsey led the team with 15 successful serves against Haven, and Bri Franklin scored 5 kills while McKinley Johnson had 9 assists.
Hesston stopped the Smoky Valley run in the Championship semifinal, defeating the Lady Vikings 25-19, 25-15. McKinley Johnson led Smoky Valley with 8 assists and Bri Franklin had 5 kills.
In the matchup for third-place, the Lady Vikings hit the nets against Hillsboro for the second time only to lose both sets 23-25, 21-25 to end up in fourth-place for the pre-season tournament. Kerington Haxton led the final match push with 11 successful serves, while Madi Tolle had credit for 3 solo blocks and Addie Heitschmidt scored 5 kills.
“We finished pool play at 4-0 before falling to Hesston and Hillsboro to place fourth out of the ten teams represented at the tournament,” noted Lady Viking Head Coach Sharlene Ramsey in her post-tournament reflections. “Volleyball competition in the CKL is strong and many games went to three sets to finish. We are definitely showing more mental toughness than last year and are very excited to see how the season progresses.”
Next up for the Lady Viking spikers will be on Thursday, September 5 when they go on the road to Abilene.
Lady Viking Results for the Tournament:
Pool Play:
Lady Vikings defeated Pratt 25-13, 25-9
Lady Vikings defeated Hillsboro 25-23, 22-25, 25-14
Lady Vikings defeated Halstead 24-26, 25-21, 25-16
Lady Vikings defeated Haven 25-20, 25-13
Lady Vikings finished Pool A at 4-0. Others were Hillsboro 3-1, Haven 2-2, Halstead 1-3, Pratt 0-4.
Pool B standings were: Nickerson 3-1, Hesston 3-1, Lyons 3-1, Hoisington 1-3, Larned 0-4.
Consolation Bracket Semifinals: Haven beat Hoisington 25-23, 25-14; Halstead beat Lyons 25-15, 25-23.
Championship Bracket Semifinals:
Lady Vikings lost to Hesston 25-19, 25-15.
Nickerson defeated Hillsboro 20-25, 25-19, 25-17.
Bracket Finals:
9th Place: Pratt defeated Larned 25-8, 25-17.
7th Place: Lyons defeated Hoisington 19-25, 25-10, 25-12.
5th Place: Halstead defeated Haven 20-25, 25-20, 25-16.
3rd Place: Hillsboro defeated Lady Vikings 25-23, 25-21.
1st Place: Nickerson defeated Hesston 25-23, 22-25, 25-13.
(Copyright@2019–CrossDoveWriters)
(Photos used with permission from Robyn Peters of Robyn’s Photography)