It was senior night for the Great Bend High School volleyball team.
It was also a trying triangular as the Lady Panthers fell in three games to Phillipsburg, but rebounded to beat Smith Center in two sets on Tuesday night at the Panther Fieldhouse.
“Phillipsburg, we just weren’t ready,” GBHS head coach Kelsey Perry said. “We couldn’t play with the lead. We kept letting them get back in it. It was disappointing. The girls are very disappointed.
“We talked about how every win matters, and it was senior night, so you don’t have to motivate much for that. Hopefully, we can take that momentum (from the Smith Center match) heading forward.”
Great Bend is currently ranked No. 8 in Class 5A on the latest Kansas Volleyball Association poll. Phillipsburg is No. 6 in 3A and Smith Center is No. 4 in 2A.
Great Bend won the first game against Phillipsburg, 25-19.
However, Phillipsburg wouldn’t go down easy.
The hard-fought second game dragged out to 25-23 in Phillipsburg’s favor.
Great Bend led 19-14 in the third game, but Phillipsburg rallied to win 26-24.
“We won and then got the lead in both the second and third games,” Perry said of the match against Phillipsburg. “It was pretty big at times, and we just played down to a level that we can’t play at, at all, in the postseason to be successful.”
The Lady Panthers came out on fire against Smith Center, led by a pair of early aces from Tarynn Stueder.
Trouble came when it was time to close out the first game.
Great Bend got hung up on 24 points while Smith Center rattled off five unanswered.
The Lady Panthers finally got game point for a 25-21 win.
“We messed a little bit with our defense,” Perry said. “We tried some different sets, so we got a little off and on there. We looked to stop their tipping. That was our focus.
“We stayed together. Phillipsburg, that was where we fell apart. We played a complete match, which was good to see.”
Great Bend finished off Smith Center 25-17 in the final game.
Seniors Selam Ball, Kaylie Doll, Kelsie Doll, Hannah Hildebrand, Kylee Spray, Brenna Haines and Stueder were recognized, along with their families, before the final home match.
Great Bend finishes the season 9-1 at home, and takes a 25-7 record to the Western Athletic Conference tournament in Dodge City on Saturday, starting at 10 a.m.
“We beat everybody in the WAC during the regular season, but that doesn’t matter,” Perry said. “You have to beat them on that day. We told them we’re 0-0 going into the rest of the year.”
HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL
Tuesday
At Great Bend
Panther Fieldhouse
Phillipsburg 2, Great Bend 1
(19-25, 25-23, 26-24)
Great Bend statistics
Selam Ball — 2 digs
Brenna Haines — 7 kills, 6 blocks, 3 aces, 1 dig
Hannah Hildebrand — 3 kills, 3 blocks
Kaylie Doll — 3 kills, 3 blocks, 3 digs, 2 assists
Kelsie Doll — 8 kills, 8 digs, 2 blocks
Morgan Kottas — 2 kills, 1 ace
Dakota Sanders — 2 digs
Kylee Spray — 6 digs
Tarynn Stueder — 25 assists, 5 blocks, 5 digs, 3 aces, 1 kill
Regan Unruh — 2 kills
Great Bend 2, Smith Center 0
(25-21, 25-17)
Great Bend statistics
Ball — 1 dig
Haines — 5 blocks, 2 kills, 1 ace
Hildebrand — 4 kills, 2 blocks
Ka. Doll — 4 kills, 2 blocks, 1 dig
Ke. Doll — 7 kills, 3 aces, 1 block
Kottas — 1 ace
Spray — 3 digs, 1 ace
Stueder — 19 assists, 2 aces, 2 digs, 1 block
Unruh — 2 kills, 1 dig
Smith Center 2, Phillipsburg 1
(25-15, 17-25, 25-17)
