Lady Dawgs Looking Toward State

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.”