Hoisington volleyball wins Cimarron sub-state

Cimarron, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–In a sub-state that looked wide open entering, it would finish with a final that maybe a few would see. Scott City and Holcomb entered as the top two seeds, and the lone two teams with winning records. Both teams would be knocked off in the semi-finals. The finals saw Hoisington, the fifth seed, defeat the third-seed Cimarron 25-20, 25-15 to advance to state.

Scott City started their day off against Larned. The Lady Beavers would be pushed by the eighth-seeded Lady Indians. They would pull away to take the first set 25-20, but would find themselves trailing for most of the second set, and would make a late rally to win 25-23. In their next match, the Hoisington Cardinals would be their opponent. The Lady Cards led for a majority of the match. Scott City would drop their first set 25-15. In the second, they would rally several times from four points down to tie, but were unable to take the lead. Their last tie would come 21, as the Lady Cardinals close it out on a 4-1 run to win 25-22. It would end Scott City’s season at 26-11.

Holcomb would match up with Hugoton in their first match of the day. The second-seeded Lady Longhorns would be in a battle with the Lady Eagles in the first set. Holcomb eventually pulled away late to take a 25-19 win. In the second set, the Lady Longhorns would waste little time to go up, as they cruised to a 25-8 win. Hugoton finished their year at 6-31. Up next was Cimarron in the semi-finals. Cimarron would win their first match over Goodland 25-20, 25-23. The Lady Longhorns started out on fire, and would dominate the first set with a 25-12 win. However the Lady Bluejays would bounce back and answer with a 25-20 win to force a third set. Cimarron led for a majority of the set, and had an 19-12 lead. Holcomb would come back and eventually get to within 24-23, before the Lady Bluejays completed the win with a 25-23 third set win to advance to the sub-state championship. Holcomb ended their season at 20-18.

Two of what many would say surprises met up in the finals. The fifth-seeded Hoisington and the third-seeded Lady Bluejays put together a good first set. Cimarron led the first set 18-11, before the Lady Cardinals put together a whale of a run, with a 14-2 run to win the set 25-20. Hoisington would keep the Lady Bluejays at arms length for most of the second set, and eventually pulled away, as they would advance to state with a 25-15 second set win, sending them to the state tournament. Cimarron, who also put together a big run on their home floor in the Hi-Plains League Tournament a week ago by finishing in second place as the seventh seed, would end their season at 16-20.

Hoisington won their first match of the day against Southwestern Heights with a 25-15, 25-14 win, ending the Lady Mustangs season at 12-21. Hoisington will be the eighth seed at the Class 3A State Tournament on Friday afternoon in Hutchinson with a record of 16-24.

Scott City Coach Shelby Kite