CCS volleyball battles ranked opponents

    The Chase County volleyball team saw its fair share of quality opponents last week, starting Sept. 20 with a trip to Sidney.
    Sidney (14-3) is ranked ninth in Class B.
    In the first set, CCS trailed by one point, 4-5, before a seven-point run by the Raiders put the set out of reach. The Longhorns pulled to within four points, 17-21, but dropped the set 19-25.
    CCS Head Coach April Lambert said the Longhorns’ offense started a bit slowly the first set.
    “We only had a few attacks, so we knew we had to respond second set,” Lambert said,
    The Longhorns did respond. CCS erased a 17-20 deficit with an eight-point flurry to take the second set 25-20.
    “Once we started attacking stronger, we forced a lot more errors on their side. Sidney is an outstanding team on defense, and they dug a lot of balls that would normally be down,” Lambert said.
    The third set went down to the wire. The Longhorns held off set point, 21-24, and tied the set. CCS held off two more set points before falling 26-28.
    “We missed a few critical serves the third set to barely fall by two points, and that was a frustration point. We were really close, but we still need to clean up errors. With a two set lead, Sidney went in confident to the fourth set and we served a little less aggressively,” Lambert said.
    Sidney scored the set’s first six points. CCS only held serve once in the 15-25 loss.
    “Overall, it was another good effort against a strong opponent and revealed a few things we need to work on to get to the next level,” Lambert said.
Sutherland tournament
    The Longhorns went 2-1 Saturday at the Sutherland tournament.
    CCS started off with a win over North Platte St. Pat’s (6-11).
    The Longhorns beat NPSP Sept. 3 and Lambert knew what to look for going in.
    “They serve very aggressively and attack strong, so our serve receive, block and defense will need to work. Our hitters will need to continue to attack to keep them on their heels,” she said.
    Chase County didn’t run away from the Irish in the first set, but forced side outs while stringing together two and three-point runs. With those two things, CCS won the first set 25-16.
    The Longhorns trailed 13-15 before a six-point run gave CCS control of the match. Chase County swept the match with a 25-20 win.
    “We played very consistent. Our serve percentage was very high and our serve receive was very strong. We got some great attacks and cleaned up our defense quite a bit since the Sidney game,” Lambert said.
    The Longhorns played Overton in the semifinals. The Eagles are ranked third in Class D2 with a 17-1 record.
    With the first set tied at 8-8, Overton scored five-straight points. The Longhorns held off set point once, but not twice in the 18-25 loss.
    CCS stayed competitive for longer in the second set. Tied at 14, Overton scored three straight points and gave itself enough breathing room to hand CCS a 21-25 loss.
    “Overton had some great hitters and did some things in the middle that we haven’t seen yet this season, so we need to continue to train our blockers and defense for those high level teams. We also need to get more offense out of some of our younger attackers and get them to terminate the ball and hit harder,” Lambert said.
    Chase County jumped all over South Loup (10-5) in the third place match, taking a 8-4 lead and extending it to a 25-18 win.
    The Longhorns let South Loup hang around in the second set, but used a 11-2 run to close out the 25-14 win.
Up next
    The Longhorns have another tough week ahead of them.
    Tuesday CCS traveled to Gothenburg to take on the 18-2 Swedes and 7-10 Perkins County. Gothenburg is ranked fifth in Class C1 and leads the class point standings.
    “They will again be a good measuring stick for us about what we need to do better. Playing back-to-back will be a challenge to stay mentally focused for four to six sets in a row,” Lambert said.
    Friday and Saturday CCS will be at the Twin City Invitational at Scottsbluff and Gering. This year is the first trip to the tournament for the Longhorns. Chase County will play three games both Friday and Saturday.
    Also there will be Sidney, Alliance, Chadron, Ogallala and Torrington, Wyoming.
    Chadron (5-9) and Ogallala (12-5) are both subdistrict opponents for the Longhorns. Ogallala has been ranked in Class C1 this season, but lost four out of five matches Sept. 16-17.
    The highest seed in the subdistrict will host the subdistrict tournament.