MORAN — Several area schools have hit the court running to start the 2021 volleyball season, Marmaton Valley, Crest and Yates Center among them.
After both opened the season Saturday with a daylong tournament, the Wildcats and Lady Lancers were back at it Tuesday as part of a quadrangular match hosted by Marmaton Valley.
Marmaton Valley went 2-1 on the day, defeating Crest in a three-set thriller and Hartford in two sets, while falling in straight sets to Madison/Hamilton.
The Lady Lancers took the opening set, 25-23, against Marmaton Valley before the Wildcats rebounded to win the second, 25-18. The back-and-forth decisive third set finally swung Marmaton Valley’s way as the Wildcats prevailed, 25-23, to seal the win.
“I’m pleased with the season so far,” Wildcat head coach Jamie Cole said. “There are some things we need to work on. This is a different group than what we had last year, and the girls are getting used to each other. I’m seeing improvement every game.”
Marmaton Valley’s other win was a little less dramatic, defeating Hartford, 25-22 and 25-15, before falling, 25-20 and 25-19, to Madison/Hamilton.
Crest dropped its two matches to Madison/Hamilton, 25-17 and 25-18, while beating Hartford in straight sets. The Crest-Hartford score was unavailable.
In junior varsity action, Crest won both of its matches over Marmaton Valley Madison/Hamilton. The Wildcats also defeated Madison/Hamilton in JV play.
Tuesday’s matches came after both schools participated in the Three Rivers League Tournament Saturday.
Because of a COVID outbreak at Jayhawk-Linn, which was slated to host Saturday’s tournament, the tournament was relocated to Marmaton Valley and Uniontown high schools.
Marmaton Valley went 3-1 on Saturday at home. Crest, playing in Uniontown, went 3-3.
MEANWHILE, Yates Center went 5-0 on Saturday in Uniontown before hosting matches against Fredonia and West Elk Tuesday evening. The Wildcats rolled past Fredonia, 25-16 and 25-18, but saw its early winning streak snapped at six with a three-set heartbreaker at the hands of West Elk, 22-25, 25-22, 25-21.
ALL three schools get a bit of a respite before their next action. Yates Center hosts Marmaton Valley and Eureka Tuesday, while Crest hosts Southern Coffey County and Pleasanton.
