From the Capital-Journal:
Even
though Rossville finished last season barely above .500, Bulldawg volleyball
coach Tom Colwell felt his team was better than its final 20-18 record.
“I was
proud of how our girls played last year,” he said. “It seemed like we were on
the losing end of a lot of close matches last year. We really had a shot to go
to state.”
A
straight-set loss to eventual Class 2A state champion Wabaunsee in the sub-state
finals ended that dream. But losing only three seniors off the roster, Colwell
felt good about the groundwork the program laid.
With the
addition of a couple impact freshman, Rossville has enjoyed a bit of a rebirth
this season.
Coming off
a 5-1 showing at last week’s Silver Lake Invitational with the lone loss to
Class 3A No. 1 Sabetha, the Bulldawgs followed Tuesday night with a Mid-East
League sweep of Wabaunsee. The big stretch has Rossville sitting 5-1 and tied
atop the league standings with Rock Creek and 21-5 overall, already surpassing
last year’s win total.
“We had
high expectations,” Colwell said. “We knew where we stood talent-wise and the
opportunities that we had. We’ve capitalized on that big-time this year.”
Rossville
had to replace its leading hitter from a year ago, departed all-leaguer Taylor
Morelli, who had a team-high 367 kills. But almost all the other key pieces
returned, including senior hitter Jaycee Fiedler and senior setter Destiny
Bergstresser.
Both have
performed to expectations this year with Fiedler pounding out 142 kills and
Bergstresser recording 503 assists and 33 aces.
The
addition of freshmen Kinsey Perine and Alexis Bittner, however, has helped
spark this year’s success. Perine leads the team with 182 kills while Bittner is
second with 146. Bittner also leads the team in aces with 35 and Perine is tops
in blocks with 28.
“Those
older girls really accepted them and we’ve really hit the ground running from
the start this year,” Colwell said. “There’s not one leader on the court, it
seems like we have six of them, which is great to have. We’ve got a lot of
options and there are no selfish players out there. Everybody wants to win as a
team and I honestly can’t ask for a better group.”
Rossville
started the season a bit slow, dropping two of its first four matches and sat
just 9-3 after its home tournament in mid-September. But since, the Bulldawgs
have gotten on a bit of a roll, punctuated by their performance over the past
week.
While
Rossville lost to No. 1 Sabetha in straight sets at the Silver Lake
Invitational, the Bulldawgs also beat both Silver Lake and defending Class 3A
champion Royal Valley.
The
confidence gained from that showing, as well as the sweep of Wabaunsee on
Tuesday, could go a long way toward the goal of reaching the Class 3A state
tournament.
There
isn’t a tougher sub-state in Class 3A than the one Rossville finds itself in.
Joining the Bulldawgs are No. 1 Sabetha, No. 2 Royal Valley and No. 10 Nemaha
Central, as well as an improved Hiawatha team and league rivals Silver Lake,
Riley County and St. Marys — the Bears handing Rossville its only league loss
and the sub-state host.
“We’ve
just been rolling with it and enjoying it also,” Colwell said. “There were just
a lot of solid teams at that tournament and we haven’t focused so much on
winning or losing, just giving our best effort out on the court that we can. I
feel like that was a good weekend to scout out some teams and we came away with
five wins. The girls believe in themselves and each other.
“They’ve bought in, we’re
working hard and I hope they can take it all the way this year. The sub-state
is stacked but instead of sitting there and complaining about it, we’re looking
at it as a challenge and we’ll get after it. Whoever goes to state out of there
is going to have to earn it.”
