Eagles volleyball seniors, from left: Sydney Jones, Janae King, Hannah Crow and Katy Andrews.

Eagles volleyball seniors, from left: Sydney Jones, Janae King, Hannah Crow and Katy Andrews.

The Eagles volleyball team rolled into the first round of district play minus senior hitter and defender Hannah Crow, but also on the heels of a big win over the Osage Indians.

The re-vamped lineup was beginning to jell and SoBoCo was beginning to play with confidence. They had momentum.

So, naturally, the Eagles came out and laid an egg.

Fulton, who lost decisively to the Eagles earlier this year, got on a roll early and upset SoBoCo in the first round of district play on Monday.

What happened?

“We just couldn’t get anything going,” said Eagles coach Jaime Nelson. “We made a few plays work, but we didn’t have any consistency.”

In the first game, the two teams traded the lead and were tied at 15-15. SoBoCo took a 23-21 lead, but after a Hornets timeout, they stung the Eagles by going on a 5-1 lead to win the game.

In game two, it was more of the same. The two teams played evenly and the Eagles could not get a serious run going.

Nelson said the Eagles hit the ball well, with Katy Andrews providing points – but the Eagles could never get on a run on the Hornets.

The Hornets took an 11-6 and 17-12 leads, but could not put the Eagles away. SoBoCo pulled to within three at 16-1 and were at 18-22 and the Hornets put the game away, winning 25-21.

“We talked during the timeouts about getting our passing and defense going – but it was just not there,” Nelson said.

The Eagles were in the second game, but the closer Fulton came to closing out the game – and the Eagles season – the more SoBoCo pressed, Nelson added.

The Eagles ended their season with a 13-13-3 record. The Hornets, now 4-21, will play Marshall in the semi-finals and Boonville will play California.

• The Eagles were defeated at Father Tolton last week 18-25 and 22-25. Haley Kellmann had 6 kills and Katy Andrews had 5 kills, Janae King had 15 assists. Emma Straub and Katy Andrews had 9 digs each.

~ Read the rest of this story in today’s Journal ~

By Bruce Wallace