After a weeklong break from volleyball matches, the College of the Ozarks Lady Bobcats made a Saturday trip to Lawrence, Kansas to take on Haskell Indian Nations University.
As could be expected, the Lady Cats had to shake off a little rust to get things going. Ryley Thixton started the attack with a kill and put the Lady Cats on the scoreboard. C of O would then play point for point with Haskell to a 6-6 tie. A kill by Thixton followed by a couple Indian errors helped the Lady Cats assemble a 3-0 run. 9-6, Lady Cats. In an effort to break the momentum, Haskell took a timeout. The attempt was to no avail and the Lady cats continued to pour on points, scoring the next four straight. Haskell stopped the streak and put a point on the board to make it 13-7 but a Brooklyn Crawford kill quickly gave the serve back to the Lady Cats. Ryley Thixton went on a serving tear to lead a 9-0 run. With the score sitting at 22-7, Thixton found the Haskell side of the hardwood with three straight service aces to seal the win, 25-7.
Set two began with six straight points by the Lady Cats, and they had posted 18 straight points since the 13-7 mark in set one. Continuing their dominance, C of O continued to add to their point total. Five straight service points by Kiley Counts would cap off an 8-1 run and the Lady Cat lead had grown to 19-7. A series of Lady Cat errors and good plays by Haskell cut the gap to four, 21-17. The Lady Cats regrouped to clamp down and score four of the next five points, winning the set, 25-18.
Set three started much the same as sets one and two. C of O jumped in front 3-0 before Haskell could manage a point. The Lady Cats continued to apply pressure and build toward the sweep. A service ace by Abi Menzies bumped the score to 8-3 and the Lady Cats seemed to be cruising to the win. Haskell had other plans and slowly chipped away at the lead. At the midway point, the Indians had cut the Lady Cat lead to 14-12. The two teams would trade jabs for the next several points until a Bailey Chamberlain kill would spark another C of O run. With Kiley Counts serving, the Lady Cats would use a couple of Haskell errors and another Thixton kill to build a six-point advantage, 20-14. With the score 21-16, and Mica Chadwell serving, kills by Chamberlain, Thixton, and Crawford would seal the win of set three and the Lady Cats swept the match, 3-0.
After the match Coach Muckenthaler commented, “After seven days without a match, I was proud of the way we stepped up today. We still have work to do but we are constantly focused on improving.”
The Lady Cats will be back in action at Central Baptist College this Thursday, September 23. Match time in Conway, Arkansas is 6:00 PM.
(From College of the Ozarks Sports Information)
