By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Even with a 20-2 record, the Lady Panther volleyball team sat stuck in the No. 9 position in the latest Class 5A rankings from the Kansas Volleyball Association released Wednesday. Thursday night, Great Bend celebrated its four seniors on the roster with a pair of straight-set wins, including a 25-18, 25-13 performance against two-time defending Class 2A champion and fourth-ranked Hillsboro to close out Senior Night.
"It's amazing," said Lady Panther senior Kara Feist. "It's a good feeling to be able to win on our home court on Senior Night. It's a lot of fun and our crowd was amazing tonight."
Hillsboro, playing under longtime coach Sandy Arnold and her 650-plus career wins, entered Thursday's finale coming off a 3-set win against Emporia. Seniors Feist and Cassie Ellegood stopped that momentum with a pair of quick points in the first set against the Trojans. Even with a pair of services out of bounds, the Lady Panthers still pulled ahead 6-4.
The Trojans hung around at 10-9 before sophomore Alex Mayers put down a kill and Ellegood used all of her reach to get a hit over the net for a 15-10 advantage. Feist and Ellegood each added two more kills for a 22-17 score, and Ellegood and sophomore Kya Behr finished off the first set with hits 25-18.
The Lady Panthers dominated the second set. Mayers put down a pair of early balls and junior Ava Kaiser added an ace as Great Bend jumped out to a 7-1 lead. Kaiser added a big dig that resulted in a point, and hits from Ellegood and Behr pushed the gap to 11-3. The Lady Panthers led by as many as 11 points late on hits from Behr, Ellegood, and Feist. Ellegood provided the exclamation point on the evening with a kill for the 25-13 set.
Ellegood finished with 11 kills in the win, followed by seven from Mayers and six each from Feist and Behr. Ellegood and Behr also combined for five blocks. Mayers was also busy in the back row with eight digs, followed by seven apiece from Behr and freshman Mikala Minton. Celebrating her 1,000th career assist over the weekend, Behr added 25 to her total against Hillsboro.
Great Bend def. Emporia 25-19, 25-17
Great Bend also picked up a quality win against an Emporia team that entered the evening with 18 wins on the season. The Lady Spartan roster featured two players over six foot tall and another at 5-11. That contributed to an early 9-5 Panther deficit.
Feist and Minton put down kills to jumpstart a comeback, and a block from Feist and tip from Behr leveled the score at 10. Feist and Behr again scored to give Great Bend its first lead of the night at 13-12. Emporia tied the score at 13 and again at 16. The Panthers led 21-18 when Ellegood aced a serve and followed that point with a kill. Feist added a late hit to secure the set 25-19.
The second set remained competitive until the 10-8 mark. Ellegood put down a kill before teaming up with little sister Micah Ellegood for a block. An ace from Kaiser bumped the Panther lead to 14-8. Still leading 16-10, Behr provided a highlight set backwards over the net for a point. A hit from Mayers set up match point, and Cassie Ellegood's block ended the match at 25-17.
Behr and Ellegood each finished with seven kills, followed by four from Feist. Both Ellegoods, Feist, and Behr all had a big night of blocking. Behr led the back row with nine digs, followed by eight from Kaiser and seven from Mayers. Behr finished the match with 17 assists.
Great Bend celebrated seniors Feist, Cassie Ellegood, Josephine Mazouch, and Addy Irwin. The Lady Panthers take a 22-2 record to the El Dorado tournament this weekend.