Chase County volleyball sweeps Yuma

    The Chase County volleyball team improved to 5-2 last week. The Longhorns’ only match came against Yuma (3-3) Sept. 7.
    CCS set the tone early in the match. The Longhorns led 16-10, but took their feet off the gas as set one neared its end. CCS had six service errors in the set, but finally finished off Yuma 25-22.
    After talking about serving between the first and second sets, CCS Head Coach April Lambert said she was happy with how the girls responded because they really focused on the serving line in sets two and three and had a lot fewer errors and a lot more aces.
    “They were still serving aggressively, but they were also taking their time and focusing on a playable ball,” Lambert said.
    The Longhorns left no doubt in the second set. Chase County took a 7-3 lead and never looked back. Liz Reeves, Bryn McNair and Gisselle Acuna had serving runs that helped CCS take a 10-point lead and increase it to a 25-12 win.
    CCS had another level left for the third game. Jerzee Milner started the Longhorns off on an 8-0 run. Neither team could sustain more than a two-point run until Joee Clevenger turned a 17-9 CCS advantage to 23-9. Chase County took the match with a 25-10 win.
    After serving 76% in the first set, CCS served 95% in the third set.
    Serve receive improved too, Lambert said, leading to better offense.
    “In the final set we hit 0.500 because our hitters just really got in the flow and started connecting,” she added.     Acuna had a nice night for the Longhorns. The junior had seven kills on 10 swings with only one error and had two aces on 12 service attempts with only one error.
    McNair finished with a team-high 13 kills and 13 digs.
    Milner had four aces and 29 assists.
Up next
    CCS traveled to 5-0 Sedgwick County Tuesday.
    On Saturday, the Longhorns will be at the McCook Tournament, playing Cambridge in the junior high gym following an 11 a.m. CT game between Southwest (6-2) and Gering (3-7).
    The 6-2 Trojans are sixth in the Class D1 point standings.
    Starting off the day well will be important, the coach said.
    “Winning the first game is the difference between being in the winners bracket or the losers bracket, and we want to play those quality Class B teams later on in the day,” Lambert said.
    Chase County’s focus, she added, will be to come out aggressive and strong against Cambridge to start off.
    Either Decatur Community or Alliance (9-2) will be the Longhorns’ second opponent.
    Also at the tournament will be McCook (0-6) and Valentine (3-6).