'Hounds improve district position

Fort Scott Community College sophomores Ali Cure (dark jersey) and libero Kate Smith follow the flight of the ball after a dig during the first set of a match at Arnold Arena Wednesday night. Smith had 43 digs while Cure had 38 for the Greyhounds as they defeated Neosho County in Jayhawk Conference-Eastern Division play in four sets. (Kenny Felt/Special to the Tribune)

Fort Scott Community College improved its playoff position Wednesday night when the Greyhounds were able to take down Neosho County in four sets in Jayhawk Conference-Eastern Division play, 25-19, 25-14, 19-25, 25-10.

With the win, Fort Scott moves up a spot into the No. 6 seed for the Region VI Division II Tournament were it to begin today, passing the Panthers in the standings.

"It's been several years since Fort Scott's been in the playoffs," Greyhound Head Coach Lindsay Hill said. "It was our goal last year but we fell short. This year, they're pretty determined to be there."

The top eight teams in the 12-team district advance to post-season play. The Greyhounds (3-4 East, 4-4 district, 21-9 overall) hold tie-breakers over everyone below them except Labette, which they haven't played yet, and Allen, which they lost to on Oct. 3.

This was Fort Scott's sixth straight victory, all in the past six days with four of them coming in a weekend tournament at East Central (Mo.) and another Monday night at last-place Independence.

The 'Hounds and Panthers (3-5, 4-5, 19-16) had split matches in tournament meetings earlier this season with Fort Scott winning in four sets Saturday at East Central. The tight scores of that match were duplicated in the first three sets with the winner of each not taking control until well into them.

Fort Scott Community College sophomore Taylyn Schwartz (10) and freshman Haylee Toothman (13) react after the Greyhounds scored a point during the second set of a Jayhawk Conference-Eastern Division match at Arnold Arena Wednesday night. Schwartz handed out 51 assists during the match, which the 'Hounds won in four sets. (Kenny Felt/Special to the Tribune)

The Greyhounds thought they were about to pull away in the first set when they went up 16-11 only to see the Panthers score four in a row. But Fort Scott rolled off five in a row and eight of the last 11.

The second set was tied 10-10 when Uniontown High graduate Jacy Ermel recorded a kill to break the tie. The Panthers erred on the next three points as Fort Scott went on to score 15 of the last 19.

Neosho County rolled out to a 9-3 lead in the third set, forcing Hill to use both her time outs early to try and correct Fort Scott's problems. The Greyhounds did get within 19-18 but an error gave serve back to the Panthers, who scored 6 of the final 7.

Fort Scott dominated the fourth set, jumping out to a 6-1 lead and never looking back. They scored 8 of 9 in one stretch to boost the lead to 19-6 on an Ali Cure kill.

The Panthers scored three in a row before the 'Hounds finished out the match with 6 of the last seven. Cure found the back right corner of the court for the match-clinching point.

"We talked about discipline," Hill said. "We lacked defensive discipline in that third set. They came back out and did what they were supposed to do. We fixed it and it was great."

Ashley Bell finished the night with 18 kills for the Greyhounds and 2 blocks. Dani Rubow had 12 kills and 3 blocks while Cure also had 12 kills to go with 38 digs.

Taylyn Schwartz handed out 51 while also picking up 14 digs. Libero Kate Smith led in digs with 43. Sarah Williams had 19 digs.

Fort Scott will be challenged Friday night at Arkansas City when they take on Cowley, the No. 1-ranked team in the nation and defending NJCAA Division II National Champion. The Tigers (7-0 East, 8-0 district, 30-0 overall) beat No. 11 Kansas City in four sets Wednesday night.