CCS opens season with historic volleyball win

    This year marks the 50th year of Chase County volleyball.
    The 2021 squad is only one game into their season, but has already accomplished something no team before them has done: beat Ogallala.
    And it happened at the 2021 CCS season opener.
    The sub-district foes took to the court Thursday in Ogallala in front of a boisterous crowd.
    CCS Head Coach April Lambert said her team was locked in from the beginning and didn’t notice the crowd noise.
    “The atmosphere was great, but honestly, talking to the girls after the match, none of us really noticed the crowd noise because we were all so locked in on our opponent and the game,” she said.
    With their home crowd behind them, Ogallala jumped out to a four-point lead in the first set.
    CCS clawed back to within one point, but found themselves trailing by four points once more, 12-16.
    A 7-3 run by the Longhorns tied the game at 20. The teams traded ties until a Bryn McNair kill and Liz Reeves ace gave the first game to CCS, 26-24.
    The second set featured six ties after the score was tied at 13. The game was tied at 22 before two Ogallala kills around an ace ended the set in the Indians’ favor, 25-22.
    CCS held a comfortable lead through much of the third game. The Longhorns’ advantage grew to as many as nine points before taking the set 25-18.
    Ogallala turned the tables and  controlled much of the fourth set. CCS closed the gap to one point, 15-16, but couldn’t overtake the Indians. The match moved in to a fifth set with a 21-25 CCS loss in the fourth.
    Despite some balls that didn’t go Chase County’s way in the second and fourth sets, Lambert said her team stayed positive and focused.
    “They stayed the course. We kept making adjustments offensively and with our block and defense, and we knew we could get the win no matter what the score was, as long as we stayed focused,” Lambert said.
    The Longhorns only trailed 0-1 in the fifth. Ogallala made things interesting, though, closing the gap to 13-12. McNair had the answer for CCS and closed the game out with two kills.
    McNair led three Longhorns in kills with 28. Joee Clevenger finished with 10 kills and Gisselle Acuna had 11.
    Having three hitters with double-digit kills made Lambert happy and fits with the Longhorn game plan.
    “We want teams to feel frustrated by the offense coming at them from all directions and stay aggressive so that we keep teams off the net and out of system and get a lot of free balls back,” she said.
    Setter Jerzee Milner had 48 assists and a team-high three aces.
    Lambert complimented her setter, saying the senior did an amazing job finding the hitters that had the best match ups on block or alley ways to the ball,
    Acuna and Kaylie Lotspeich had five blocks each.
    Lambert said the Longhorns had some exceptional individual performances in the match, complimenting libero Chloe Dillan and defensive specialists Ali McNair and Liz Reeves, as well as Milner and her hitters.
     “I couldn’t have been more proud of each one of them individually and as a team. Every single one has locked into their role on the team and is fully committed,” Lambert said.
    That attitude has Lambert believing it’s going to be a fun season.
    Looking back at how CCS struggled to get out of the gate last season, Lambert said this win confirms the confidence CCS has in its team this year, especially since Ogallala is in its sub-district with Chadron, Hershey and Mitchell.
    “Going forward, we feel like we can play with anyone this year if we play our game and adjust to our opponent. It’s our goal to come out on top and we know we can if we just prepare well, improve each week, stay locked in to our goal and stay together as teammates,” she said.
Up next
    CCS traveled to McCook Tuesday for a JV/varsity triangular with the Bison and Minden.
    Saturday the team will be at the Lexington Invite. Games will begin at 10 a.m. CT.
    Livestreams are available on the Lexington Public Schools’ webpage under activities.
    Yuma, Colorado will come to Imperial for reserve, JV and varsity games Sept. 7, the Longhorns’ home opener.