Cougars encounter learning curve at state

Central Valley’s first appearance at the NSAA State Volleyball Tournament in almost half a decade may not have produced the results that the Cougars were hoping for; however, it did provide the team with a springboard for the future.

“You know, if you are not winning, you’re learning,” said Central Valley Head Coach Diane Kasselder following the match at Pinnacle Bank Arena. “A little bit of learning went on here today.

“I don’t know any team that has come down their first year and gone to the state championship. It is a learning environment, and we got schooled today. No doubt about it.”

Central Valley drew first blood in the match, with Cayle Grossart earning an early kill. However, Overton would soon settle and sweep the Cougars, with the Eagles winning the match 25-16, 25-12, 25-12.

“I think we had a lot of grit,” Coach Kasselder said of her team’s effort on Thursday. “Again, for my crew, it was just a little bit of a learning curve. I guarantee we will be back down here.”

Grossart’s early kill was part of an intense back-and-forth between the two teams early in the first set. The Cougars only trailed by one point midway through the frame—12-11—but Overton would then go on a 6-3 run, which spurred a timeout from the Cougars.

Overton Head Coach Haley Ryan said that she wasn’t surprised with how competitive the first half of the opening set had been, noting that it likely took her team a moment or two to find its footing inside the confines of the arena.

“Sometimes I think we just have to get ourselves warmed up,” Ryan noted. “Just the pace of the game. I felt like we came out and had a nice early warm-up, but we needed to just settle in a little bit.”

While the Eagles, as a team, need a minute or two to get comfortable, senior hitter JoLee Ryan looked like she was right in her element in Lincoln. Ryan had nine kills in the first set, which was part of a match-high twenty-one kills.

As a team, Central Valley finished the match with twelve kills, a performance that hadn’t been due to a lack of trying on the Cougars’ part.

“Our game plan was to try and be as aggressive as they were and swing as many times as they did,” Coach Kasselder said. “Whether we got the outcome we wanted or not, that was kind of the game plan.

“You just couldn’t defend them. They were going to get kills. You just hoped you got as many as they got.”

Overton’s attack at the net was on fire from pin to pin on Thursday, and their performance at the service line was just as solid.

In the second set, Overton’s Ashlyn Florell served three aces early on in the frame to help the Eagles build a 9-4 lead. Callie Wadas attempted to get something going for Central Valley in the middle of that frame when the Cougar recorded a kill, but the Eagles couldn’t be stopped. After trailing 18-8, Central Valley registered back-to-back points, but it was too little, too late for the Cougars.

In the final set, Overton jumped out to a 5-0 lead, and led 10-3 midway through the match. Overton’s Gracyn Luther had the first ace of the set to help the Eagles lead 14-4, with Natalie Wood also recording an ace to get the Eagles to a 17-5 lead.

Overton finished the match with nine ace serves, five of which came from Florell’s.

Coach Kasselder said that, early on, she had been impressed by her team’s passing and serve reception. However, the Cougars’ head coach noted that, late in the match, her team “kind of lost our minds.”

Overton’s Ryan said that, early on in the match, it became apparent that serving was a phase of the game were the Eagles could pick up points.

“Serving was an important factor in the game, because I felt like they were out of system quite a bit,” Ryan said. “When they brought the ball back over, I felt like our girls read it pretty well.”

Central Valley had one final flash before their season came to an end, with Wadas registering a pair of kills before Overton’s Wood secured the Eagles the three-set victory.

After being swept by Overton, Coach Kassleder said that there was no doubt that the Eagles had leaned on their prior experience at the state tournament. Last season, Overton finished as runners-up after the Eagles lost a five-set thriller to Howells-Dodge.

“They are a very experienced team,” she said. “They have great hitters. They have great defense. It is easy to look that good because I am sure they put all the hard work in.”

The Cougars’ coach added that, on her team’s side of the net, there was a little bit of surprise, especially at the level of intensity that was present in the match.

“Learning to play with that intensity, the whole time, is something you don’t realize when you are just playing in the season,” Kasselder said. “You really think you are doing great, and then you get down here and feel like, ‘What have we been doing?’

“Again, I think we learned a lesson.”

Wadas led the team with six kills on Thursday. Grossart had three, Alexis Johnson earned two, and Taylor McIntyre finished with a solo spike for a point. 

Kasselder said that she felt like her hitters were “scared of [Overton’s] block a little bit,” noting that the Eagles had seven blocks in the match. McIntyre earned the Cougars’ lone block at state, while Annaka Wood and Emma Corman each had six set assists. Piper Shepard accounted for Central Valley’s entire defense, with thirteen digs.

Friday’s loss left the Cougars with a 23-9 record, which Coach Kasselder noted will serve as a strong starting point for next season.

“We are not stopping,” she said. “We are going to move forward. I think we are going to learn from this. It will give us a platform to [launch from].

“I guarantee we will be back down here.”