Spartans earn revenge over Mustangs in tough Fort Kearney Tourney

Custer County - Ansley-Litchfield and Sumner- Eddyville- Miller met up for the third time on the season in the first round of the Fort Kearney volleyball tournament at Pleasanton on Oct.12. After dropping the two previous matches between the teams, the Spartans were able to come out victorious 25-18 and 25-19.

According to Tammy Keaton the head coach of S-E-M it is the same problem that has plagued the Mustangs all season of inconsistent preparation and play.

“Unfortunately, the struggle we faced against Ansley-Litchfield is the same issue we have had in several other games throughout the season of not playing as a team,” Keaton said. “There is a “game routine” a team needs to follow to prepare for the game they are about to play, when it’s not followed by several players, games have a tendency to not go as they should. However, I cannot take anything away from Ansley-Litchfield, they came to play on Monday night and did what they had to do to come away with a win.”

For Ansley-Litchfield they had this matchup with S-E-M circled on their schedule since the Fort Kearney tournament brackets were released. This team knew they had the talent to pull off a victory over the Mustangs it just came down to letting that translate out on the court.

“It was a great feeling and a great accomplishment,” Jamee Smith said. “We knew we had the skills, but S-E-M was in our heads. It was great to use the skills we had been working on all year to get that win.”

Finishing with a match-high ten kills was Kaylee Rohde for Ansley-Litchfield. Carlee Bailey was not far off that pace with eight kills, and Audrey Hogg recorded six. Defensively, senior Sydnee Sweley had 11 digs.

Freshman Mikah O’Neill led the Mustangs with nine kills, three blocks, and 17 digs. Faith Hernandez ended the match with five kills.

The reward for the Spartan’s big win was none other than a showdown with D1 No.1 Pleasanton a state finalist a season ago and undefeated this season.

Despite the daunting task, Ansley-Litchfield played well against the Bulldogs, particularly in the second set. They were downed by a final of 14-25, and 17-25.

“Pleasanton is incredibly gifted and talented, and I thought our girls stuck with them,” Smith said. “We don’t have an opportunity to play defense on hits like those very often and we were able to dig several balls and gain some kills and confidence from playing Pleasanton.”

Coming in with six kills against a tough Bulldog attack up front was the junior Bailey. Rohde was also able to add a block to the stat sheet and Audrey Hogg had eight digs.

With their first-round loss, S-E-M moved on to play a consolation game at Kearney Catholic on Oct.13 against Wilcox-Hildreth. Earlier in the year, they beat the Falcons 2-1 on the road.

It was a lot of the same in this matchup as well, as the Mustangs pulled off the 25-20 and 26-24 set wins to claim the match.

“They played much more as a team against Wilcox-Hildreth which helped a ton,” Keaton said. “When we are in system, we can play with most anyone. Mikah O’Neill had some strong hits that finished as kills, and strong serving from Aubrey Claflin helped us pull off a win in the second set when we were down 19-24.”

O’Neill finished with nine kills and eight service aces, while Aubrey Claflin 18 aces, Faith Hernandez finished with nine, and Emily Garrelts had seven.

The eventual champion of the conference was Pleasanton. They defeated C2 No.3 Overton 25-18, 25-21, and 25-22.

Ansley-Litchfield host a home tournament on Oct.23 against Pleasanton and Loomis to end the regular season.