MMS 7TH NETTERS SCORE CHAMPIONSHIP AT CHAPMAN!
By William for www.mcpherson-county-ks.com
(Cover photo is of the championship ‘A’ team – with the back row being left to right: Coach Shelley Bohme, Mallorie Cooper, Kelby Boughfman, Izabel Backhus, Josie Fitzmorris, Haley Hagemann and manager Briley Naylor. The front row from left to right: Addison Chapman, Kenzi Kaufman, Addie Herrera and Cora Pavlovich.)
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CHAPMAN – It was a busy, but highly productive Saturday for both McPherson Middle School seventh-grade volleyball teams as both the ‘A’ and ‘B’ teams went unbeaten for the day and scored first-place, championship trophies at the Chapman Invitational.
For the ‘A’ team, the day began with a quick straight set win over Clay Center (25-11, 25-18) before taking down Marysville (25-23, 25-15) in pool play. They then followed that up with another quick straight set match over Fort Riley (25-5, 25-14) in the semifinals. In the ‘A’ team championship match, the Lady Junior Pups once again needed just two sets to take down Salina Lakewood (25-9, 25-20) and score the first-place trophy.
By going 4-0 for the day, the ‘A’ team is now 10-2 for the season.
“I am so proud of these girls today,” noted ‘A’ team Head Coach Shelley Bohme. “They were given a brand-new lineup this morning due to Mallorie (Cooper) getting injured in practice on Friday, and they adapted so well. Kelby (Boughfman) started us off with great serving against Clay Center and ended up serving a total of 15 points in the first set. Josie (Fitzmorris) did a nice job of attacking the ball with nice sets from Addison (Chapman). Against Marysville, we struggled with serve receive a little and had to come back from being down 1-8. Once again Josie did a nice job hitting. Izabel (Backhus) passed the ball well and Cora (Pavlovich) was great defensively. Kelby had more stellar serving in set one against Fort Riley, but we got a little lazy in set two and allowed more points than we should have.”
Coach Bohme concluded her coach reflections about the championship match by saying, “In the championship match against Salina Lakewood, our teamwork was great in set one. We gave up too many points in set two with unforced errors and a lack of communication, but only had two service errors. For the match, Addison and Kelby both got the ball to our hitters, and Addie (Herrera) played well at the net. Kenzi (Kaufman)) had some great passes on the back row while Haley (Hagemann) did a nice job of making good decisions at the net. Overall, it was a fun way to end a busy week of volleyball, with a total of 10 matches in just six days. We are looking forward to our first home match on Monday.”
The seventh-grade volleyball teams will be back on the court on Monday when they play host to Salina South and Emporia beginning at 5:00 p.m.
As with the ‘A’ team, the ‘B’ team seventh-grade Lady Junior Pups went unbeaten at 4-0 to score the championship trophy for the ‘B’ tournament. The four wins also mean the seventh grade ‘B’ team remains unbeaten for the season at 12-0.
(‘B’ team photo has – back row from left to right: Coach Abby Bradstreet, Addie Harlin, Kadee Steward, Paisley VanCampen, Ellis Bowers, Ada Prose, Aria Janusz and manager Eva Ramey. In the front row you have from left to right: Kaitlyn Bergstrom, Reese Buchman, Faith Klein and Clarea Williams.)
They began the day by jumping all over and dominating Clay Center in straight sets (25-14, 25-3) and then were pushed to three sets before defeating Marysville (25-27, 25-14, 17-15) to win their pool.
In the semifinals, the Lady Junior Pups buried Salina Lakewood (25-10, 25-1) before having once again to battle through three sets before finishing off St. Xavier (23-25, 25-14, 17-15) to win the tournament.
“I am so incredibly proud of how well the girls played today,” commented Coach Abby Bradstreet. “They faced some good teams and fought hard to win in three sets against both Marysville and in the Championship game with St. Xavier. We had way too many missed serves and our communication wasn’t the greatest, which caused us to have to go to three sets against both of those teams. But the girls stayed positive, pushed through, and came out with the win. Addie (Harlin) had an incredible day serving where she served 24 out of the 25 points against Salina Lakewood. It’s exciting to see all of their hard work paying off and we are looking forward to a home game on Monday.”
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