Neosho County smokes by NEO A&M
Ella Bryan piled up 21 kills for the Neosho County Panthers, pushing her squad to a 3-1 (27-25, 18-25, 25-20, 25-19) win over NEO A&M in the Panthers’ home opener on Wednesday night.
The win for Neosho County improved its record to 4-1 to start the season — the Panthers are already nearly halfway to its win total from last year.
“I’m feeling relief,” Neosho County head coach Lisiane Matsdorff said. “We’re blessed. Everything that happened last season has made us better. It’s made me a better coach. We’re more humble. We’re doing a better job of things and being the best we can. I’m blessed that these freshmen are fantastic and they’re fighters. They complete the group of sophomores, who are amazing leaders.”
Neosho County held NEO A&M to a .052 kill percentage and committed just four serve-receive errors.
“Our defense reflects on what happened last year,” Matsdorff said. “We struggled with our passing last year. So I brought in more defensive players to help our hitters so they can go and hit and go and block. And that lets our setters be amazing. Our defense is playing with bravery and confidence.”
Bryan’s 21 kills was a season-high for the freshman from Fayetteville, Arkansas. She achieved the total on 48 attacks for a .333 kill percentage.
“She’s fantastic,” Matsdorff said. “Ella is the name for us. She’s already one of the best hitters in the nation. She’s my biggest promise. This girl decided to come to Neosho and she’s making a good impression.”
Sarah Wehrli led Neosho County with 22 assists while Brooke Galey had 22 digs and eight kills. Trinity Collette added 21 digs.
Neosho County’s lone pain point on the night was its serving. The Panthers committed a dozen service errors, with most coming in the first two sets.
“They were so excited with it being the first home game,” Matsdorff said. “The girls are still growing. In the first timeout, I told them that our mistakes were on serves. They just had to play more patiently and take more time.”
Neosho County’s 4-1 start to the campaign lends credence to a turnaround from last year’s 9-23 season, where the Panthers started 2-10.
“They need to enjoy the moment and keep building confidence, step by step,” Matsdorff said. “But they need to keep working. Our schedule isn’t easy. Our conference is hard. So we need to keep playing the best we can.”
Up next
Neosho County starts KJCCC play on Monday with a home tilt against Cloud County.
