The Lady Pioneers opened their volleyball season tonight at
home at the Muggy Joe against the Conner Cougars.
The humid conditions were causing the AC to condensate and leak on the floor. The air was turned off but the Joe turned into a sauna, causing the floor to sweat and get slippery. Nevertheless, an absolute phenomenal weeknight crowd, including a decent student section, turned out for the contest. Conner is led by SK Coach Andrea Atwood’s daughter, Deandra, a soph at
the Hebron campus.
The Frosh and JV teams opened up the Tri-match. The Freshman won in convincing two game fashion. Sledding got tough for the JV team as they won the first set easily but ended up losing the match in three sets.
After an outstanding preseason that consisted of a 5th
place tie at the Bluegrass State Games (out of 84 teams) and strong scrimmage showings against Cooper and
Brossart, the girls were ready to get the real season going. SK showed up where they left off last season as one of the top ranked teams in Kentucky, coming in at 23 in the state coach's poll-a little low in my biased opinion.
The varsity team, led by a whopping 7 seniors, took to the
floor and looked strong in warm-ups. The girls looked loose and ready to have fun. The
Neers came out and hung a double digit lead on Conner. Once SK got to 23, they got frozen and
tightened up, allowing Conner to come back and tie the score after they led by
23-16. SK got the final two points they
needed but it clearly gave Conner some momentum for the rest of the match. A back and forth scoring scenario
characterized the second set as SK comes back in the end to also win by a
25-23 score. SK seemed to let up and
tighten up more in the third set as they clearly struggled throughout the set,
losing by a final of 21-25. The team
seemed to come back and get things back together in the 4th set, preventing the start of a
fifth game and pulled out a 25-20 win.
While the Cougars were scrappy and deserves credit for battling the Neers, SK certainly did not play up
to their preseason form. Call it first
game jitters but they really seemed to tighten up when they got backed in a corner. The team has a lot of talent and will have a better showing on Tuesday night when they return to the Joe. SK was led by Seniors Rachael Figgins, who
posted 10 kills and 6 blocks, Ellie Smith with 8 kills, Carson Elliott with 19 assists and Floorburn Schmee with 15 digs.
Kenzie celebrates her match winning serve...just a little! She also made an unbelievable play one time by blasting the ball into the net which allowed Anna Cully to win the point. Awesome play by the sophomore. 
It is fun watching these three and their antics.
I can't believe she's a senior...great match last night Smallest Fig Hides Behind a Bush.
Atwoods at least smiling before the game. Great pic of mom and daughter.
