Pirates volleyball makes history against NKC
Senior Alita Lucero spikes the ball to the opposing North Kansas City Hornets.
Andrea Sessions, Reporter
October 21, 2009
Filed under Sports, Volleyball
In Tuesday’s game, Oct. 20, the Belton varsity volleyball team beat the visiting Hornets from North Kansas City. The lady Pirates’ win in this game helped them accomplish two feats.
The win against North Kansas City was, in its own, a great success. Belton hadn’t claimed a win against the Hornets in the last couple of decades, but this season changed that. This win was also the Pirates’ 20th victory of the season, setting a new school record.
Coach Eric Scherfenberg said the win was “absolutely” a big accomplishment. Scherfenberg said the win obtained the team’s sole possession of second place in the conference, right behind Lee’s Summit West.
“And we’re not done yet,” Scherfenberg said.
The first game started out poorly, with the Pirates falling behind quickly. The initial score was 1-3, once both teams had scored points. When Belton was losing by seven points, Scherfenberg called a timeout early on in the game, but the team still did not manage to pull ahead.
The Pirates started to slowly catch up when they received the ball, despite the messy play, leaving the score 7-11. Following a few short plays, junior Sarah McMilian’s spike landed far back on the court and was not returned. With just a two point lead, the Hornets hit the ball into the net, giving the Pirates the ball.
After the Pirates ended the longest rally of the first game, tying the score 15-15, they began to pull ahead. They lost the ball due to a hole in the court, but still remained in the lead. Feeling the heat of the 21-19 score, a timeout was called. Right after the break, senior Karlee Bobbitt executed an ace serve. Junior Desiree Johnson’s spike went into the net when she was unable to completely follow through with her swing in time, leaving the score 23-20. Belton won the game 25-22, when the Hornets served out.
The score tied 2-2, when the Hornets were called on a double hit. The Pirates rode on a comfortable lead during McMilian’s serves. While the two teams held longer rallies, the BHS varsity volleyball team lingered ahead, as their enthusiasm progressed more and more by the minute. Even when the score drew close, the team did not let down their fight.
More than halfway through the game, sophomore Jordan Catanzaro carried out a nice, hard hit that North Kansas City failed to make a touch on, giving Belton a 3 point lead, with a score of 15-12. The visitors knocked off Belton’s lead when they started to win with 19 points to home’s 18 points. The teams tied 20-20, when junior Courtney Cornell hit the ground to save the ball and then quickly jumped back up to spike off junior Haley Coovert’s set. The lady Pirates finished with the winning score of 25-22.
Scherfenberg said the team had a high level of focus. He said he thought that the fact that the team remained extremely enthusiastic throughout the game helped the team succeed.
“We started out behind, but we got fired up and kept it,” Scherfenberg said.
Coovert said she felt that the team played to their fullest in the second half of the first game and on. She said the team hadn’t gathered their focus at first, but once they were fully focused they didn’t lose it at any point during the game.
“We brought it back together,” Coovert said.
Freshman Logan Allen said the team lost their focus in the beginning. She said she thought the team’s lack of focus was the cause.
“None of our heads were really in it at all,” Allen said.
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