Holcomb and Scott City go 2-1; Longhorns get past Lady Beavers in finale

Scott City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–For the first time, Scott City was able to host a GWAC quadrangular in its second year of the rotation. Thursday in Scott City, it was Colby, Goodland and Holcomb making the trip. Although it is described as a quadrangular, only Holcomb and Scott City played three matches. At the end of the day, Both Holcomb and Scott City would finish up 2-1, Colby would go 1-1 and Goodland finished 0-2.

The first match of the afternoon got things started off well between Scott City and Colby. It was the third meeting of the season between the league foes, and the Lady Eagles got the upperhand five days ago, en route to the Oakley Invitational championship. Colby jumped out to the early 4-1 lead, and led 9-6. That’s when the Lady Beavers took the lead, using a 9-1 run to go up 15-10. Colby would rally to pull to within 16-15, before Scott City used a 7-2 run to lead 23-17. The Lady Eagles made one more run, pulling to within 23-22. Scott City found a way to close out the set, winning 25-22. Much like the first set, Colby jumped out to the early lead at 3-0, then the set eventually would be tied at four, and five, before the Lady Beavers made a big run. An 8-1 run pushed their lead to 13-6. The Lady Eagles would make things interesting, scoring seven straight to even the score at 13. Scott City would put the match away for good, 9-0 run, and closed the second set on a 12-2 run to get the win over Colby for the second time in three meetings 25-15.

Next up was Goodland and Holcomb. This matchup would feature three ties, all early on. Following a nine-all tie, the Lady Longhorns would take charge, using a 9-0 run to separate themselves from the Cowgirls, taking an 18-9 lead. Holcomb would cruise to a 25-14 win in set one. Much like the second set, it was back and forth early on. The Lady Longhorns would use runs of three, four and six to cruise to the 25-11 win. When it was said and done, the run to close that match out was 16-6.

Goodland would turnaround and face Scott City. The Lady Beavers never trailed, and slowly built their lead in the first set. They would use three runs of 4-0 and closed out the first set on a 5-0 run to win 25-9. The Cowgirls would wake up and lead for a majority of the second set. Scott City would tie it at seven, only to see Goodland score three straight, and eventually led 14-10. After that it was all in favor of the Lady Beavers. Scott City put together quite an impressive rally, taking their first lead of the set at 16-15, and ended the match with nine straight points. The furious rally by the Lady Beavers was a 15-1 match-ender.

In the fourth match of the day, it was back and forth between two evenly-matched teams in Colby and Holcomb. It would be the first three-set match of the day. The Lady Eagles would take the early lead, and despite all Lady Longhorn efforts, wouldn’t surrender it. Holcomb could only get as close as 9-8, but weren’t really out of it until the mid to late stages of the first set. That’s when Colby used a 7-1 run to take a 23-13 lead. The Lady Longhorns would take some momentum with them at the end of the opening set, pulling to within 24-18, before the Lady Eagles took the 25-18 win. Colby jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in set two, before Holcomb countered with a 7-1 run to take the early 7-5 lead. The score would be tied four times in the second set. With the set going back and forth, the Lady Longhorns took charge, using a 5-0 run to take a 23-19 lead, only to see the Lady Eagles rally to pull to within 23-22. Holcomb would finish the set with two quick points and win 25-22. Colby jumped out to a 7-1 lead early in the third set. Out of the Longhorn timeout, Holcomb would make their way back in the set, using a 4-1 run to pull to within 8-5. The match after that would belong to the Lady Eagles. Colby pushed forward with 9-3 run to lead 17-8. Holcomb had one final run in them. They would pull to within 22-19, but three Lady Eagle points followed, ending the match in favor of Colby 25-19. It was the second time that Colby has knocked off Holcomb this year.

Playing in front of a loud crowd, Holcomb and Scott City would face off for the second time in three days. Holcomb got the best of the Lady Beavers 25-21 in both sets on Tuesday in Holcomb. This time, the match was played in Scott City. The first set had to go to extra points. It would be tied for the first four points. After that, Holcomb would score the next four points to take an 8-4 lead. The Lady Beavers would slowly grind away at the lead, eventually tying the set at 15, and 19. From there, it would go back and forth. Scott City had set point at 24, 25, and Holcomb had set point at 26 and 27, before the Longhorns won 28-26. The first set at 11 ties. In the second set, there were six ties in the set. Both teams would go back and forth early on, until Holcomb took control. The Lady Longhorns would slowly grow their lead to 18-13 in the second set. Scott City could only get as close as 19-16, and Holcomb knocked off the Lady Beavers for the second time in three days with a set two win of 25-20.

After Thursday, Scott City is 14-7 overall, 2-3 in GWAC, Holcomb is sitting at 23-7 overall, 3-2 in GWAC play, while Colby is 15-12 overall, and 3-2 in the GWAC, and Goodland is 3-22 overall, and 0-5 in GWAC play. As of tonight, Ulysses has lead in the conference standings with a 5-0 record. Hugoton is 2-3.

Holcomb Coach Jennifer Barrett