Getting up off the deck, the Crest Ridge Cougars rallied to win the Class One, District 14 volleyball tournament Thursday, Oct. 23 in Sweet Springs, as heard on KMMO-FM.
Dropping the first two sets to defending tournament champion Santa Fe, the third-seeded Lady Cougars came back strong to win the last three rounds and advance to next week’s Sectional. It turned out to be a historic night for Crest Ridge as they hadn’t beaten the Chiefs in volleyball since September 2009, dropping their previous 39 consecutive matchups against Santa Fe, including two losses earlier this month.
Starting slowly after winning a hard-fought semifinal-round skirmish in four sets against Northwest of Hughesville on Wednesday, the Crest Ridge spikers never led during the first half of the title match, falling into a 2-0 hole while losing to the top-seeded Chiefs 25-21 and 25-15. After that, there was a complete reversal of momentum as the Cougars trailed only once the rest of the evening, going on to claim sets three, four and five by scores of 26-24, 25-17 and 15-11.
Santa Fe’s year thus ended abruptly with a final record of 16-10-4. Meanwhile, the victory improved Crest Ridge to 22-13-1 as they’ll now play a Sectional round match at Osceola next Thursday. Osceola moves on, having defeated Sacred Heart, 25-18, 25-13 and 25-22 in the District 13 championship match at Lincoln.
Other results from Thursday’s district volleyball action include:
Class One, District Five (at Calvary Lutheran, Jefferson City)
1) Calvary Lutheran 3, 4) Columbia Christian Fellowship 0
3) Columbia Independent 3, 2) Otterville 0
Class One, District 13 (at Lincoln)
1) Osceola 3, 2) Sacred Heart 0
Class One, District 14 (at Sweet Springs; games on KMMO)
3) Crest Ridge 3, 1) Santa Fe 2
Class One, District 15 (at Northland Christian)
1) Northland Christian 3, 4) Faith Christian Academy 0
3) KC Lutheran 3, 2) Wellington-Napoleon 0
Class Two, District 7 (at Russellville)
Saturday’s Semifinals:
1) Fatima vs 5) Russellville
2) Cole Camp vs 3) Stover
Class Two, District 13 (at Lafayette County)
Saturday’s Final:
1) Lafayette County vs 2) Lone Jack
Class Two, District 15 (at Lawson)
Saturday’s Final:
1) Lawson vs 2) Carrollton
Class Three, District 7 (at Hallsville)
1) Boonville 3, 5) Southern Boone 0
3) Hallsville 3, 2) Tolton Catholic 1
Monday’s Final:
1) Boonville vs 3) Hallsville
Class Three, District 8 (at Eldon)
4) School of the Osage 3, 5) Blair Oaks 0
3) California 3, 6) Versailles 1
Saturday’s Semifinals:
1) Helias Catholic vs 4) School of the Osage
2) Eldon vs 3) California
Class Three, District 13 (at Knob Noster)
1) Nevada 3, 5) Warsaw 0
2) Clinton 3, 3) Harrisonville 2
Monday’s Final:
1) Nevada vs 2) Clinton
Class Three, District 15 (at Excelsior Springs)
1) Oak Grove 3, 5) Richmond 0
2) Odessa 3, 3) Excelsior Springs 1
Monday’s Final:
1) Oak Grove vs 2) Odessa
Class Three, District 16 (at Bishop LeBlond, St Joseph)
1) Savannah 3, 4) Maryville 2
2) Chillicothe 3, 3) Bishop LeBlond 1
Saturday’s Final:
1) Savannah vs 2) Chillicothe
Class Four, District 7 (at St Teresa’s Academy, KCMO)
1) St Michael the Archangel 3, 5) Pleasant Hill 0
Class Five, District 5 (at Blue Springs South)
3) Waynesville 3, 6) Smith-Cotton 1