Rachel Hanf leaps into the air and waits for the ball during a jump serve as the Paola Panthers opened the volleyball season at Carbondale with matches against St. Mary’s and Santa Fe Trail. (Photo by Gene Morris / gmorris@miconews.com)
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Paola adjusts after loss
Girls battle back in loss against St. Mary’s, rebound to beat Chargers
By Gene Morris, gmorris@miconews.com
CARBONDALE, Kan. — Losing to St. Mary’s in a three-game match, which included a 15-point run against Paola in the third game, was not exactly what the Panthers had in mind for their season opener at Santa Fe Trail High School on Tuesday evening.
St. Mary’s, the defending state champion in Class 2A, exploited some weaknesses against Paola.
The back-to-back Class 4A regional champion Panthers made some adjustments on the court and ended the night with a victory, defeating Santa Fe Trail in two games.
“We learned some things about ourselves tonight,” Paola coach Michelle Abshrie said. “That’s what the first night is for.
“I would rather open up the year with good competition than not,” she said.
A jump serve ace by Rachel Hanf rolled Paola out to a 7-2 lead in the first game against St. Mary’s, but the competition was about to heat up.
St. Mary’s closed to 11-8, and it would be a back-and-forth battle the rest of the way.
Courtney Johnson made a great hustle play to save a ball and keep it in play during a long volley, but Paola lost the point at 13-11.
Paola held one-point leads of 19-18 and 20-19 before the score was tied at 20.
Hanf broke the tie with a kill, 21-20, only to have the score knotted again.
An ace by Hanf pushed the lead to 23-21, and she added another kill to make it game point, 24-21, before the Panthers were able to seal the win 25-22.
St. Mary’s took a 16-12 lead in the second game and lead 24-19 when Paola began a late rally to make the final score 25-23.
Fifteen consecutive points (7-3 to 7-18) were too much for Paola to overcome in the third game as St. Mary’s won the game 25-19.
“I was proud of how they battled back against St. Mary’s in the second game,” Abshire said. “I would have liked to win that match, but I was happy with how we fought back. We made some adjustments after that.”
The rhythm of the game was interrupted by some confusion over Paola substitutions. Play was stopped several times for long pauses while scorers and officials tried to figure out what Paola was doing on its double substitutions.
Abshire was finally forced to alter her substitutions to get the game flowing and avoid any further delays.
“The stops and starts hurt us,” she said. “It killed our momentum.”
Paola pulled even on the night at the expense of Santa Fe Trail on its home court, defeating the Chargers in straight games by scores of 25-18 and 25-13.
Setter Allison Wood fooled the Santa Fe Trail defense with a tip at the net, swinging the early momentum back to Paola at 7-3.
Johnson broke an 11-11 tie with an ace.
Middle hitter Megan Hayes made it 14-11 with a block and blasted a kill for 15-11.
An ace by Kayla Offutt made it an eight-point lead at 21-13. Angela Ramirez made a great dig on the court, diving to put her hand on the court and under the ball to keep it in play at 22-15, but Paola lost the point.
Briana Mueller had powered in a kill to take Paola to game point at 24-15. Paola went on to win the first game, 25-18.
The Panthers jumped out to an 14-3 advantage in the second game and never let Santa Fe Trail get back into the match.
Mueller made a big block and a kill on a rally, and Paola won the point, 14-4. She later drilled a spike down for a kill to make it 20-6.
Hanf made a tip at the net to take the score to 24-13. Paola won the game 25-13.
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St. Mary’s, the defending state champion in Class 2A, exploited some weaknesses against Paola.
The back-to-back Class 4A regional champion Panthers made some adjustments on the court and ended the night with a victory, defeating Santa Fe Trail in two games.
“We learned some things about ourselves tonight,” Paola coach Michelle Abshrie said. “That’s what the first night is for.
“I would rather open up the year with good competition than not,” she said.
A jump serve ace by Rachel Hanf rolled Paola out to a 7-2 lead in the first game against St. Mary’s, but the competition was about to heat up.
St. Mary’s closed to 11-8, and it would be a back-and-forth battle the rest of the way.
Courtney Johnson made a great hustle play to save a ball and keep it in play during a long volley, but Paola lost the point at 13-11.
Paola held one-point leads of 19-18 and 20-19 before the score was tied at 20.
Hanf broke the tie with a kill, 21-20, only to have the score knotted again.
An ace by Hanf pushed the lead to 23-21, and she added another kill to make it game point, 24-21, before the Panthers were able to seal the win 25-22.
St. Mary’s took a 16-12 lead in the second game and lead 24-19 when Paola began a late rally to make the final score 25-23.
Fifteen consecutive points (7-3 to 7-18) were too much for Paola to overcome in the third game as St. Mary’s won the game 25-19.
“I was proud of how they battled back against St. Mary’s in the second game,” Abshire said. “I would have liked to win that match, but I was happy with how we fought back. We made some adjustments after that.”
The rhythm of the game was interrupted by some confusion over Paola substitutions. Play was stopped several times for long pauses while scorers and officials tried to figure out what Paola was doing on its double substitutions.
Abshire was finally forced to alter her substitutions to get the game flowing and avoid any further delays.
“The stops and starts hurt us,” she said. “It killed our momentum.”
Paola pulled even on the night at the expense of Santa Fe Trail on its home court, defeating the Chargers in straight games by scores of 25-18 and 25-13.
Setter Allison Wood fooled the Santa Fe Trail defense with a tip at the net, swinging the early momentum back to Paola at 7-3.
Johnson broke an 11-11 tie with an ace.
Middle hitter Megan Hayes made it 14-11 with a block and blasted a kill for 15-11.
An ace by Kayla Offutt made it an eight-point lead at 21-13. Angela Ramirez made a great dig on the court, diving to put her hand on the court and under the ball to keep it in play at 22-15, but Paola lost the point.
Briana Mueller had powered in a kill to take Paola to game point at 24-15. Paola went on to win the first game, 25-18.
The Panthers jumped out to an 14-3 advantage in the second game and never let Santa Fe Trail get back into the match.
Mueller made a big block and a kill on a rally, and Paola won the point, 14-4. She later drilled a spike down for a kill to make it 20-6.
Hanf made a tip at the net to take the score to 24-13. Paola won the game 25-13.