Seniors, subs key in Prairie Stars victory over the Missouri Science & Technology Lady Miners

October 29, 2008
By Robert Jackson
Sports Editor

Photo by David Clary Danielle Simler's leaping ability has made her a versatile member of the prairie stars, playing everywhere from back right to outside hitter to now serving as middle hitter

On an emotional senior night the volleyball team used rational adjustments to overcome an early 25-13 blowout in game one against the University of Missouri Science and Technology Lady Miners.

Prairie Stars Head Coach Joe Fisher began positioning the backline deeper and reminding the front row to be prepared to return the ball to counteract the aggressive serves of the Lady Miners.

Subbing in freshman Cayla Baggerly and junior Stephanie George also energized an attack that was non-existent in the first game. For the match Baggerly averaged five kills in the two games she played, giving her the highest kills-per-game on the season for the team.

The first-game loss was the second worst loss by the Prairie Stars in a game after a 25-12 defeat against the Columbia College Cougars on Sept. 23.

After building an early 6-2 lead in the first game, the Prairie Stars were outscored 16-2 over the next eighteen points, finding themselves in an 18-8 deficit.

“They were a pretty aggressive serving team,” Prairie Stars Head Coach Joe Fisher said after the game. “I don’t think we’ve ever played a team with such aggressive servers. If you look at it, four or five of their 10 aces came off hitting the tape.”

Lady Miners Danielle Kracl and Julie Meyer both attacked the Prairie Stars with a jump serve that sent the ball fluttering over the net with the ball knuckling as it approached the backline of the Prairie Stars defense.

The duo ignited a Lady Miners rally that caused Fisher to take a timeout when the Lady Miners had an 11-6 lead, and then a few points later when they stretched their lead to 18-8.

But service reception was only one of the problems that first game as the Prairie Stars hitting percentage also fell off to a negative .233 percent, tallying only 5 kills that game. Blocks were also non-existent with the team allowing the Lady Miners to hit .167, well above their season average of .109.

Fisher attributed “a little” of the team’s awful play in game one to the pre-game ceremony honoring the Prairie Stars’ three seniors: Ali Janezic, Tori McColez, and Danielle Simler.

Game two proved a pivotal turning point for the match with the Prairie Stars securing a win on the strength of a 5-1 scoring run at the end of the game to win 25-21. The teams battled back-and-forth in game two with neither side securing a lead greater than two points from 11-11 to the end of the match.

“We got complacent,” Lady Miners Head Coach Jason Holt said. “We thought it’d be as easy as game one was.”

For the fourth and fifth games the Prairie Stars overwhelmed the Lady Miners, winning convincingly in both games 25-16 and 25-19 respectively.

“We shout ourselves with a lot of errors and playing tentatively,” Holt said. Being a second year program, Holt charged his team “tentative and afraid to win.”

Fisher attributed the wins to more consistency with ball control that allowed for the Prairie Stars to build to effective attacks. For the game the Prairie Stars cut their errors from 12 in the first game to as low as three in the fourth game, and finishing with eight errors in the final game.

The Prairie Stars return home for a game against top-ranked American Midwest Conference opponent Columbia College, tonight, with first serve at 7 p.m.