Bearcats win 2, lose 2 at Perham volleyball tourney
BERLYN STREGE, KCC BEARCAT JUNIOR, goes up for a kill during the Bearcats’ tournament action in Perham. Strege had 10 kills and 28 digs during the tournament. (Submitted photo)
By Coach Tina Turn
The Bearcats attended their final of three Saturday tournaments for the season on Saturuday, Oct. 7 in Perham. Sixteen teams attended, 10 that were Class AA teams and six that were Class A teams.
In match one, the Bearcats met up with Barnesville and came out on top 25-16, 25-19. They served 96 percent in the match and did a good job keeping the Trojans out of system. In their strongest offensive effort of the day, KCC ended with 33 kills, led by Morgan Turn and Kaydence White with 8 each, and Lauryn Whitlock with 7.
With the first match win, the Bearcats advanced in the bracket to take on the Thief River Falls Prowlers. Once again, strong serving helped KCC set the tone of the match. They scored on 6 aces and kept TRF out of system while serving 94 percent. Once again, White led the way offensively with 10 kills and Hanna Warnke stepped up defensively with 9 digs. The match ended 25-19, 25-13.
The third match for the Bearcats was the semi-final match, played against the host team, the Perham Yellowjackets. A very smart and big team, the Yellowjackets succeeded in thwarting the Bearcats’ offense with some tough blocking and solid back row defense. KCC responded with a strong defensive effort of their own, and the match was an exciting one to watch with several long rallies. Ultimately, KCC fell short 22-25, 22-25.
With their first loss of the day, KCC moved into the consolation championship where they took on the Melrose Dutchmen. Melrose was by far the toughest blocking team we have met this season, and they worked us so hard at the net that KCC had to work overtime to get some offensive numbers on the board.
Turn led the way with 6 kills, followed closely by White with 5. The Bearcats played sluggishly in set one but made a valiant effort in set two as they tried to force a third set. They fell short, though, 15-25 and 21-25.
We competed with only Class AA teams all day, and we were happy for the challenge, especially at this late juncture of the season. Going 2 and 2 on the weekend moves the Bearcat season record to 17 and 8.