Semoball

Kennett volleyball beats Scott City in four sets

Photo by Dustin Ward, staff
Kennett's Sophie Boone sets a ball in a varsity volleyball game against Scott City Monday.

KENNETT - Fresh off a runner-up finish in the silver bracket of the Black Division at the Dig for Life Challenge Saturday in Cape Girardeau, the Kennett Indians varsity volleyball squad added another win to its resume Monday night.

Kennett recorded eight ace serves as it beat the visiting Scot City Rams 25-18, 18-25, 25-22, 25-14.

“We had a good start and good finish tonight,” Kennett coach Gentry Vancil said. “We didn’t run our offense well in the second set. We have to run our offense so we can get the hits we need to score points.”

Kennett created havoc at the net for Scott City early on. The Indians executed five blocks in the opening set as it jumped out to an early 11-3 lead and led by at least four points the rest of the way.

“We stayed on top of things with our middle blocking,” Vancil said. “That really helped us in the first set.”

Kennett also jumped out to an early 8-3 lead in the second set and increased its advantage as large as 14-8. But Scott City responded with a 11-1 run of its own to move ahead 19-15 and led the remainder of the second set. Strong serving helped fuel the Rams’ surge as it recorded six ace serves in the second set.

“We served well in the second set,” Scott City coach Christy Riley said. “We also played clean and got in the rhythm of pass, set, hit.”

Neither team led by more than four points in a closely contested third set that featured four ties. Scott City never led after falling behind 4-0 but trailed by just one at 19-18 after receiving a clutch kill from outside hitter Alyssa Dirden. Kennett padded its lead back to four at 23-19 in a spurt that included a pair of kills by Macy New and another kill by Anna Beth Vancil.

Scott City got within one point once again when it cut the deficit to 23-22 in a 3-0 run that ended with a ace serve by Havynee Riley. But Kennett scored the final two points on a missed serve and a attack error to win the third set by three.

“I felt like we had a few good moments here and there but lacked consistency tonight,” Riley said. “We are still struggling to find the right defense.”

Kennett carried its momentum into the fourth set as it jumped out to a 6-0 lead and eventually doubled Scott City on the scoreboard 16-8 on its way to a double digit win.

Anna Beth Vancil, Melena Green and New all recorded at least eight kills for Kennett. Green also collected a team-high three ace serves.

“Melena had a lot of good hits off the net tonight,” Vancil said. “We also had two sophomores step up and play varsity tonight. I felt like that gave us some new energy as well.”

Averie O’Brien paced Scott City's offense with 13 kills. Jersey Black added nine more unofficially.

O’Brien had four ace serves. Natalie Morrison and Riley contributed three ace serves each for the Rams.

Kennett (8-2-1) has a road contest at traditional volleyball talent Dexter Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.

“We will have a tough test on Tuesday,” Vancil said.

Scott City (2-5-3), which has played eight games since Wednesday, has eight days off before its next contest when it hosts Oran on Sept. 22.

“We haven’t had anytime to adjust anything lately,” Riley said. “We will get back to practice tomorrow and work on our blocking as well as playing more aggressively when we attack the ball.”

Photo by Dustin Ward, staff
Scott City's Jersey Black (23) eyes a set by Havynne Riley in a varsity volleyball game against Kennett Monday night.
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