Staff writer
Playing on their home court Saturday, the Centre High School Lady Cougars claimed the runner-up trophy in the 1A substate volleyball tournament. Centre defeated White City, 25-15 and 25-22, in the first match. Both teams had a first-round bye.
Both sides stayed almost even in the first game until they tied at 14-14. After that, Centre held White City to one more point while adding 10. Good serving by junior Anna Weber and freshman Brenna Shields and good spiking by sophomore Brianna Svoboda contributed to the victory.
The second game was closer, but solid net play allowed the Lady Cougars to pull out another win and claim the match. Cacey Simons provided a tip and a spike, Weber a block, and Svoboda a spike.
Overall, Shields served for 11 points including four aces. Junior Genesis Rudolph were 28-of-28 and freshman Shelby Makovec was 31-of-31 in setting.
Weber led at the net with 14-of-16 spikes, two kills, and two blocks. Junior Beka Basore was 12-of-15 with two kills and two blocks. Simons was the leading blocker with four. She also completed 5-of-5 spikes with two kills. Svoboda was 11-of-13 in spikes, including five kills.
Goessel
Centre faced top-seeded Goessel in the championship game and was defeated in identical scores of 16-25.
The Lady Bluebirds were pumped and ready to play. Spikes flew back and forth across the net, but in both games, Goessel gained points steadily.
Centre rallied to score 11 points in the first game and 12 in the second. Simons led Centre’s scoring serves with four points. Rudolph was 14-of-14 and Makovec 22-of-22 in setting.
Weber and Simons each completed eight spikes, four kills, and one block. Basore had seven spikes, one kill, and one block. Svoboda had seven spikes and three kills.
The Lady Cougars ended the season with a sub-state runner-up trophy and a winning record, 19-16. The young team has no seniors, so they will be back in full force in 2012.
Coach Yvonne Burhoop said the team made costly mistakes in the match with Goessel.
“You can’t do that and win against a good team,” she said.
“We played inconsistent,” she said, “but I think the girls were happy with the season. They said, ‘Let’s not hang our heads. We played well and we will all be back next year.’”