HUTCHINSON — The Great Bend High School Lady Panthers were digging it. They were pouncing at every ball hit their way during a volleyball match with Hutchinson on Thursday evening at the Hutchinson triangular.
The Lady Panthers were led by Kylee Spray, a junior libero, with 16 of their amazing 60 digs, but a pair of delays in the match seemed to take away their ebb-and-flow. Hutch captured a 2-1 match win after beating GBHS in the second and third sets, 25-18 and 25-19.
Lady Panthers setter Tarynn Stueder had 27 assists against Hutch and 28 assists against Goddard, as they improved to 7-6 overall after beating Goddard in their second match.
"Tarynn Stueder is a constant for us and sometimes gets overlooked for the great things she does for the team as the setter," Great Bend head coach Kelsey Perry said. "She served very well and was the general on the court. We won the first set (25-23), took a 6-0 lead to start the second match and then had a 10-minute delay for a Hutchinson roster error.
"We then let Hutch tie it back up, followed by another five-minute delay for a Hutch line-up issue. The delays were ridiculous. We have no excuse not to have finished the match with a win in the second set. You should never let a six-point lead falter, however, those delays were a big momentum change."
Perry said the delays were something out of the ordinary.
"You just don't see that happen often at the varsity level," she said, "and to be delayed two times was frustrating. That is a match we know we had and we let it get away, but I don't put all that on our kids.
"We didn't jell well together this match and that hurt us. We have to find a way to play through rough patches."
The Lady Panthers bounced back to bounce Goddard, 25-22, 25-13, to finish the day.
"Against Goddard we switched our personnel up a bit to find some consistency and it paid off," Perry said. "Liz Swigart and Hannah Hildebrand took care of business the first set in the middle. Hannah was consistent all day. She can give us great energy and a spark.
"Liz had a good match at the net as well. Hannah rolled both ankles, so we got her a rest the second set, and Brenna Haines was back firing away to finish the match."
The Lady Panthers also displayed some balance on the front line.
"Kelsie Doll and Bonny Boultinghouse have been hitting the ball so well on the outside and they continued that (on Thursday)," Perry said. "Taylor Fry blocked well on the right side. Kylee Spray anchors us in the back row, and Selam Ball and Liz Barber made some tremendous hustle plays.
"The nice thing about our team this season is we have so much depth in every position that we can get back on track if we have a slump by making an adjustment.The girls all accept and fulfill their roles so well, and that gives us success."
The Lady Panthers JV had a pair of impressive wins at the Hutch triangular, improving to 11-10 on the season.
— Mack McClure
PREP VOLLEYBALL
Hutchinson Triangular
Thursday
At Hutchinson
Hutchinson 2, Great Bend 1
(23-25, 25-18, 25-19)
GBHS statistics
Selam Ball — 2 digs
Bonny Boultinghouse — 10 digs, 5 kills, 1 block
Brenna Haines — 4 kills, 3 blocks, 5 digs
Hannah Hildebrand — 2 digs, 5 kills
Kaylie Doll — 9 digs, 2 assists, 5 kills
Kelsie Doll — 7 kills, 1 ace, 7 digs
Liz Barber — 1 dig
Kylee Spray — 16 digs
Tarynn Stueder — 1 block, 6 aces, 27 assists, 8 digs
Great Bend 2, Goddard 0
(25-22, 25-13)
GBHS stats
Selam Ball — 5 digs
Bonny Boultinghouse — 4 digs, 1 ace, 6 kills, 1 block
Taylor Fry — 1 block, 3 digs
Brenna Haines — 2 kills, 4 blocks, 4 blocks
Hannah Hildebrand — 2 kills, 3 blocks, 1 dig
Kaylie Doll — 6 digs, 1 assist, 1 ace, 2 kills, 1 block
Kelsie Doll —7 kills, 1 dig, 1 ace
Liz Barber — 6 digs
Kylee Spray — 6 digs, 2 aces, 1 kill
Tarynn Stueder — 4 kills, 4 digs, 28 assists, 1 ace
Liz Swigart — 3 kills, 2 blocks
