MHS volleyball: Lady Owls survive first-round test

Junior Susan Skogsberg (2) had a strong night on the net, with nine kills and three blocks, as the Lady Owls won their district opener. (Chris Allen/Democrat-News) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

EXCELSIOR SPRINGS -- It didn't come as easily as its last meeting against Chillicothe, but the Marshall volleyball team came from behind Monday for a 26-28, 25-19, 25-16 victory in the first round of the Class 3, District 15 Tournament at Excelsior Springs.

"They just like to put gray hairs on me," quipped Lady Owls' head coach Gentry Lark.

Four weeks earlier Marshall had won a 25-14, 25-16 contest against the Lady Hornets, who had since won 11 of 18 matches. That familiarity, though, didn't breed comfort.

"I felt like I was in a poker game with someone who didn't know how to play," Lark remarked. "You never know what they're going to do."

The Lady Owls jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the first game, but a combination of blocks by junior Kelsey Hinton and shots into the middle of the defense allowed Chillicothe to reel off eight straight points.

"We're not used to teams kind of patty-caking it," Lark said. "We adjusted to it and went outside, but they kept finding the same hole."

Marshall took a 20-17 lead on a hit by senior Jordan Reith, but couldn't pull away. Five mistakes in a row by the Lady Owls brought them to game point. They fended it off twice, but not a third time as junior Ashley Myers rejected a shot at the net for the deciding point.

The second frame was also close until after Marshall broke a 16-all tie on junior Becca Keller's off-net attack. The combination of junior Susan Skogsberg's two blocks in the middle, a pair of Keller hits and sophomore Haley Witcher's ace extended the Lady Owls' cushion to 23-18 and they closed it out from there.

Lark called the combination of Skogsberg and Keller "wonderful" during that stretch. "There's some strengths in certain rotations."

For the first time in the match, the Lady Hornets (14-14-1) got off to the quicker start in the rubber game, Myers scoring four times during an 8-5 run.

"I thought we were playing kind of scared," Lark said. "They were smart about the ball placement."

Chillicothe started missing shots, though, and that gave the Lady Owls time to regroup. Keller spiked and Skogsberg and senior Whitney Kelley stuffed opposing attacks to key an 8-1 spree.

Senior Kim Deutsch scored from the back row, Witcher aced and Skogsberg got cleanly over the net to pound the ball into the floor to put Marshall up, 15-11.

"We got that confidence back and momentum swinging back our way," Lark explained.

A Keller ace and senior Morgan Ryther's two kills, the first following a rally-saving dig by Witcher, put further distance between the teams at 21-14.

The Lady Owls finished up with four out of five points, the last a serve by senior Kate Hartley which Chillicothe couldn't handle.

Keller led Marshall (13-14-2) with 16 kills, Ryther added 10 and Skogsberg made nine shots and blocked three.

The Lady Owls return Wednesday for a semifinal tilt against No. 1 seed Grain Valley, which as won two previous matches between the clubs.

"It wasn't the prettiest win we ever had," Lark admitted, "but it's a 'W' and I'll take it."