Scott City VB takes small picture approach in W over Kennett

Scott City junior Liza Dannenmueller (7) and senior Havynne Riley battle to keep a possession alive against Kennett on Monday during the SEMO Conference Volleyball Tournament at the Cape Girardeau SportsPlex.

Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com

CAPE GIRARDEAU – Scott City is amid a strong volleyball season having won the most regular-season games (16-8-2) in four seasons, while still having four matches remaining. This could be the most successful season in over a decade after the Rams finished 30-1-1 in 2011. However, of late, Scott City has struggled – relatively speaking.

The Rams have won just three of their past eight matches, but they looked solid in sweeping Kennett 25-22, 25-19 during the SEMO Conference Tournament at the Cape Girardeau SportsPlex on Monday.

“We changed things up as far as the rotation, which I think helped us a lot,” first-year coach Cindy Henry said. “The girls come in and practice, not like we’ve been defeated, but they come in and practice (focused) on our next game.

“That is one thing that has really contributed (to our success).”

That singular focus was evident in both sets against the Indians.

Scott City held an 18-12 lead in the opening game, but Kennett continued to whittle away at its deficit.

At 22-18, Henry called a timeout, as Indian senior Macy New was serving very well.

The break in play didn’t help the Rams.

Kennett cut the margin to 22-21, but Scott City scored consecutive points to create some breathing room before Scott City closed the deal.

“I was very nervous,” Henry said.

That angst was ratcheted up in the second game.

Kennett built on a 10-8 lead by scoring five consecutive points for a 15-8 score.

The Rams never got rattled, however, as they won three straight points and at 15-11, Kennett took a timeout.

“The girls took a little pride in their work,” Henry said. “They came back in, and we have a small increment rule. You have to go by fives.”

By breaking the game down into segments, Henry believes her athletes won’t be overwhelmed by significant margins.

“We try to always implement that rule,” Henry explained. “We really gutted it out and implemented that rule right then.”

Scott City responded out of the break by scoring seven consecutive points to take an 18-15 advantage.

“We didn’t get the ball and kill the ball,” Kennett coach Gentry Vancil said. “We just weren’t killing it. We didn’t put it away when we needed to, and we didn’t execute when volleyball is such a momentum game and (Scott City) was down.”

New hit a shot that stopped the Ram tear for an 18-16 score and the Indians scored again to trim the score to 18-17. However, Scott City did enough throughout the remainder of the game to keep the margin at a couple of points and win comfortably.

“It’s been a problem all year,” Vancil said, “where we find that time that we need to put a team away.

“Scott City gave us that opportunity and we didn’t take it.”

The games were played in pool play on Monday, while tonight’s games will begin at 4 p.m. in bracket play.