Courier photos by Amanda Wehnes

 

AMANDA WEHNES, COURIER CORRESPONDENT

The Medicine Valley Raiders threatened to steal the championship plaque from the Lady Bobcats during the 38th Annual Seven Valleys Volleyball Tournament in Callaway, and nearly did by forcing three very close games. But the Bobcats dug deep and found the focus and tenacity to win and bring home the top placing for the seventh consecutive year.

All three games the Bobcats played on Saturday were tough and hard-fought. Each opponent really brought the heat and at no point in the tournament were the Bobcats guaranteed a win, starting with Brady in two sets.

The Lady Eagles of Brady attacked hard in the first set, but the Bobcats ran away with a 16-10 lead early in the game. Just when it looked like their wings had been clipped, the Eagles fought back to get within two points. A kill by Charli Vickers gave the Bobcats new energy to end the set 25-18.

The second set stayed much closer with the Bobcats never getting more than five points ahead of Brady, and that was only due to serving aces by Vickers. The Eagles clawed their way back to close the gap, but came up short 25-20.

Abby Stallbaumer had 8 kills and 6 blocks; Bryn Schwarz had 6 kills and 10 serve receives; Ava Pandorf had 42 sets and 19 assists; and Talli Martin, playing at libero, had 13 serve receives and 6 digs. Vickers had 3 aces on 6 serves, and Lauryn Johnson added 2 more aces.

The Wolves of Twin Loup also played very well against the Bobcats, but our home team was able to stop them in two sets to advance to the championship game.

Abby Stallbaumer used her height and power to shut down the Twin Loup offense early in the game to come back from a 4-7 deficit and scored 4 points, but the Wolves soon evened up the score and matched the Bobcats point-for-point. A block from Stallbaumer and Bryn Schwarz at 19-18 was the turning point in the set for the Bobcats to score 6 unanswered points and win 25-19.

The second set saw service errors from the Bobcats that allowed the Wolves a chance to keep a tie game right up to the end when the Bobcats scored four unanswered to win 25-21.

Stallbaumer and Charli Vickers each had 4 blocks; Ava Pandorf had 9 assists in 35 sets; and Vickers had 2 serving aces.

The real test of the day came in the championship game with Medicine Valley forcing a third set and staying within a few points of the Bobcats throughout all three.

In the first set, the Raiders scored first and extended their lead by 4 points, but the Bobcats fought back to tie up the score and keep it tied to the end when the Bobcats scored five straight to win the first set 25-21.

The Lady Bobcats were starting to show some fatigue and never took the lead in the second set, even allowing the Raiders to run up a 9-point lead midway through.

After a Bobcat time out, they came back out and closed the gap to 15-19, but it was too little too late and they dropped the second set 18-25.

The third set was much like the first, with an exchange of points back and forth to keep the score tied throughout. It wasn’t until a kill by Stallbaumer that the Bobcats got the momentum needed to score 4 unanswered points and win 25-22.

Taylor Ross racked up 3 serving aces on 14 attempts, 8 blocks, and 5 kills. Vickers had 2 serving aces on 8 attempts, 5 kills, and 8 blocks. Talli Martin had 20 digs and Ava Pandorf had 21 assists on 70 sets.

South Loup were the tournament champions, Medicine Valley the runner-up, Ansley-Litchfield took home third, and Arthur County finished fourth.

The Lady Bobcats JV team hosted Anselmo-Merna on Monday and varsity hosted Brady and Dundy County Stratton on Tuesday for a triangular. These scores were not available by press time.

Ava Pandorf sets the ball against Medicine Valley in the Seven Valleys Tournament on Saturday. South Loup were the winners for the seventh consecutive year.