By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
It helps to have an ace in the back pocket. The Great Bend High School volleyball team trailed Smith Center 22-20 in set one of Tuesday Night’s Senior Night finale. Aced serves from junior Alex Mayers and senior Ava Kaiser helped turn the set around 25-23. The Panthers got three late aces from sophomore Mikala Minton in the second set to help erase a 21-19 deficit to beat the Lady Red 25-23, 25-21.
With a pair of 25-9 sets against Phillipsburg in the early match Tuesday, Great Bend improves to 21-9 on the season with wins in their last 11 matches.
Set one looked to be easy in the late match as the Panthers jumped out to a 6-1 lead against Smith Center. Great Bend needed a pair of early kills from senior Katherine Mazouch as the Red battled back to tie the score at seven. The teams went back and forth from there, with Smith Center opening up a 17-14 lead midway through the first set.
The Panthers battled back behind a kill from Minton and an ace from senior Kimmy Hoflinger to again level the score at 17. Again, it was back and forth until the Red pulled ahead 22-20. Mazouch ended that run with a kill and block to knot the score at 22. The big service points propelled the Panthers to the 25-23 set.
After falling behind 2-1 in the second set, Great Bend regrouped with another ace from Kaiser and a stuff from freshman Stevie Mayers to pull ahead 5-2. Back-to-back aces from Minton extended the lead to 11-7, and the gap grew to as large as 15-9 on a kill from sophomore Micah Ellegood.
But the drive back to Smith Center is a long one and the Red were not quite finished. Lady Red senior Parker Attwood put down three straight balls to even the score at 15. The Panthers answered with a long kill from junior Kya Behr, and back-to-back spikes from Minton kept Great Bend ahead 19-18.
Smith Center junior Leah McKelvey entered the night with 243 kills on the season. Her offensive and defensive play helped the Red to a 21-19 lead before a crafty backwards hit from Behr and a block from Stevie Mayers again tied the score at 21. Minton aced three of the final five points in the match to secure the win for her senior teammates.
Great Bend will host the Western Athletic Conference Championships Saturday.