Lady Cougars miss sub-state by two points
By ROWENA PLETT
Staff writer
It was as close to winning as a team can get and still lose. It also was as close to advancing to substate and still not getting there.
That's the story of Centre High School's volleyball team after the Oct. 17 regional tournament at Junction City.
After handily beating six-member St. Xavier in the first round, the third-seeded Cougars came up against perennial rival Hope in the second and were defeated in three games.
Centre trailed by five or six points most of the first game and lost, 20-25.
The Cougars took Hope for a loop in the second game, taking an early lead and keeping their distance the entire game. The Lions were stunned when Megan Gutsch served for nine straight points as the game wound down, giving Centre a 24-14 lead. The team held on to claim an exciting 10-point victory, 25-15.
In the third game, it looked as if Centre was headed for another win to claim the match. Hope fans held their breath as the Lady Cougars gained a 14-8 lead on serves from Gutsch and Amy Hajek. Hope then scored five unanswered points to tie the game at 14-14.
The Lady Cougars regained the lead on strong play at the net, but Hope came back to tie it and go ahead for the first time at 20-19.
Centre tied the game two more times on spikes from Alyssa Luna and Kylie Burhoop. They stayed within reach of victory until the end, but weren't able to come out on top. Their hopes for a substate berth were dashed as Hope won, 25-23.
The team ended the season with a record of 19-13, an improvement over the 18-11 finish the previous year.
"It was a tough loss," said Coach Yvonne Burhoop, "especially when we had high expectations.
"When you have seven seniors in a locker room and they realize they played their last game, there weren't many dry eyes.
"Wednesday was a tough day for me. Those girls made me cry, and they made me laugh."
She can talk about it now and feels good about the way the girls played.
"I don't know if they could have done any better than they did at that time and place," she said. "Some girls who normally don't hit well did hit well."
As for the season, Burhoop noted the team advanced out of pool play in all three tournaments they participated in. Kylie Burhoop received all-tournament honors after one tournament, and Coach Burhoop expects a few other girls to receive honors.
After their narrow escape from Centre, the Hope team came out fired up to play against top-seeded White City in the championship match. They defeated the Huskies in two games, 25-21 and 25-19. Both teams advanced to substate.
Statistics
Centre vs. Hope
Game 1 (20-25): team serving 20-21; service points, Kylie Burhoop 3, Samantha Alvarez 3, Megan Gutsch 2, Alyssa Luna 2, Teaira Turner 1; rally points 9.
Game 2 (25-15): team serving 22-24; service points, Gutsch 10, Alvarez 2, Luna 3, Burhoop 1, Turner 1; rally points 8.
Game 3 (23-25): team serving, 35-35; service points, Amy Hajek 7, Gutsch 5; rally points 11.
Individual aces: Gutsch 4, Burhoop 2, Alvarez 2, Luna 1.
Setting: Selena Seifert 35-35; Alvarez 24-25.
Spikes-kills-blocks: Pankratz 9/10-3-2, Alisha Barney 14/18-5-0; Gutsch 5/7-2-2, Luna 20/24-7-0, Turner 4/5-2-0, Burhoop 19/21-6-0.
