PARSONS — Chanute, still perfect on the season, swept a pair of matches at an SEK League volleyball quad in Parsons on Tuesday with wins over Pittsburg and Parsons.
Parsons defeated Fort Scott in its other match, while Pittsburg defeated Fort Scott.
Parsons cruises by Fort Scott
Parsons took down Fort Scott, 2-0 (25-22, 25-11).
“We did a good job of finding holes and putting the ball where we needed to put it to score points,” Parsons head coach Dara Barr-Miller said. “They had a solid middle and we did a great job getting around it. Our girls executed.”
Ayanna Robertson and Braelyn Hinman-Mitchell each tallied eight kills in the win for the Vikings.
Cadence Manners racked up five aces.
Chanute takes control over Pitt
In a showdown between a pair of teams unbeaten in SEK League play, the Blue Comets swept the Pittsburg Purple Dragons, 2-0 (25-23, 25-13).
“We just played really well,” Chanute head coach Jory Murry said. “Nothing really stuck out. We just minimized our mistakes and did a good job. We talked about their holes defensively and executed what we needed to do to expose their weaknesses. We did a much better job with serve placement to get them out of system.”
Josey Henson paced the Blue Comets with four kills while Addy Hughes tallied five blocks.
Blue Comets best Vikings In the final match of the night, Chanute beat Parsons, 2-0 (25-20, 25-14).
Parsons took an early 13-6 lead in the first set before the Blue Comets took full control.
“That first set, we came out and stuck to our gameplan early,” Barr-Miller said. “Then we had a couple of breakdowns. That’s what cost us the first set. It was so tight and we didn’t execute every ball. That’s what got us. Chanute is a smart team.”
Hinman-Mitchell led Parsons with eight kills in the loss. Robertson tallied two blocks.
Chanute’s defense kept the Vikings’ front line guessing — Kiley Dillow, who inherited the libero role due to a shoulder injury prior to the fall, was nearly flawless in the back line.
“Kiley was amazing tonight,” Murry said. “On Saturday, when we played Parsons, our defense and serve-receive was double-thumbs-down. Today, they made such an improvement. They really stepped up. Kiley was a completely different kid and it made a world of difference.”
The Blue Comets’ offense showcased its variety against the Vikings.
“It causes us struggles every time we play them,” Barr-Miller said. “We thought we had a decent plan of attack. But they were still able to adjust. And Chanute doesn’t let balls hit the floor. We might execute and they won’t quit. They get every ball up. It’s hard to stay with that.”
Josey Henson led Chanute with six kills and two blocks.
“Both of our middles have been working on getting outside of the cover zones,” Murry said. “We’re trying to make the defense change up. The girls did a really good job.”
Up next
Chanute, which played at Paola on Thursday, gets the weekend off before an SEK League quad on Tuesday at Independence.
The Blue Comets are 19-0 overall and 6-0 in league action, crystalizing the vision of a league title.
“The girls haven’t dwelled on the record, but everybody knows,” Murry said. “We’re trying to stay focused on one game at a time. Next week, we’ll start talking about our league teams again. We can’t just show up and hope to win.”
Parsons moved to 12-6 overall. The Vikings head to Pittsburg on Tuesday.
“What I tell them is that our record isn’t bad, but we still want to get better with each outing,” Barr-Miller said. “We’re trying to improve. We want to have the season we want and do special things.”
