CHANUTE — Allen Community College could hardly have served up a better start to the 2024 volleyball season.
The Red Devils, playing at rival Neosho County, were locked in a back-and-forth battle, trailing 17-14 at one point, but quickly worked back to even the score as the match progressed.
Neosho led 20-18 before the Red Devils rattled off three straight points to take the upper hand, 21-20.
The teams traded points until, knotted at 23-23, Le Roy native Josie Weers made her presence known.
Her diving save of a potential Neosho County kill sent the ball back over the net, and in such a manner the stunned Panthers could do nothing more than let it drop to give Allen a 24-23 lead.
Then, on the next extended rally, Weers blasted home a kill from the right side, nipping a Neosho County fingertip along the way.
After a brief hesitation by the referees, to determine who touched the ball, the point and set were awarded to Allen.
Buoyed by the dramatic victory, Allen took control from there, winning sets 2 and 3, 25-20 and 25-17, to secure the first win at Neosho in more than a decade, and only the third overall over the past 14 years.
“It was a good night, a fun night, in a good atmosphere,” Allen head coach Maria Aikins said. “It was a good night for our sophomores.”
Aikins, in her second year at the helm, remembered last year’s trip to Neosho, which Allen lost in a five-set heartbreaker.
The key, Aikins said, was to limit unforced errors against a taller Neosho County lineup.
“We went to defense and ball control,” she said.
Neosho County started the second set on a strong note, as could be expected, Aikins said.
“We knew they weren’t gonna roll over,” she said. “They were gonna give us everything they had.”
But the Red Devils maintained their poise and stifled any Panther hopes for a turnaround.
“We were a little nervous for our first match of the season, and we had some early-match shakes,” Aikins said. “We did a better job of defending their tips, and we realized we might not be able to end the point with every hit against their taller players. We just had to be prepared to keep playing.”
