Great Bend Post Sports
Since dropping back-to-back matches to Manhattan and fourth-ranked Clay Center (4A) in mid-September, the No. 9 Lady Panther volleyball team has now rattled off 19 consecutive wins. Great Bend posted a 5-0 record Saturday in El Dorado to win that tournament and improve to 27-2 on the season. Three of the five wins came in straight sets.
Four of the five opponents Saturday have .500 records or better. Class 4A Chanute sits a 20-8 on the season after a 25-14, 19-25, 25-17 win by Great Bend. The Lady Panther seniors were big at the net offensively as Kara Feist pounded out 13 kills and Cassie Ellegood added 12. Feist also had a pair of blocks. Junior Ava Kaiser served up a pair of aces, and sophomore Kya Behr finished with 33 assists. The back row was busy with 66 digs in the three sets. Sophomore Alex Mayers led the way with 17, followed by 16 from Kaiser and 15 from Behr.
Great Bend needed just two sets to get by 15-9 Valley Center 25-18, 25-19. Ellegood led the offense with seven kills, followed by six from Behr and four from freshman Mikala Minton. Ellegood finished with three blocks on the defensive side. Mayers served up two of the team's three aces in the win, and Behr finished with 15 assists. Kaiser was huge in the back row with 16 of the team's 41 digs. Minton and Mayers combined for 15 more.
Great Bend also defeated Wichita West and Arkansas City in straight sets and beat Buhler in three sets. The Lady Panthers travel to Smith Center on Tuesday for triangular action against the Phillipsburg and Smith Center.