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Tiger volleyball team comes up short

10/6/2007

By WILL MANLY

Hays Daily News

Trailing 27-18 in the pivotal third game, it was like the Fort Hays State University volleyball team could smell a much-needed conference win slipping away.

So the Tigers mounted a ferocious rally. They scored 10 of the next 12 points. Not always pretty, sometimes frantic, with defenders diving for the opposing team's spikes, and attacks deflecting off the sides of hands -- but somehow right into a hole in Northwest Missouri State University's defense -- for an intense run that brought the game back into contention.

The Tigers were smiles all around.

Then, after pulling within 28-26, they faltered. The breaks quit going their way for a split second and after trailing by that many points at that late stage in the game, a split second of faltering was fatal.

Northwest Missouri State went on to win the game 30-28 for a 2-1 lead. They finished Fort Hays off in the next game for a 3-1 match win.

"They're just a very, very good team," Fort Hays coach Steve Smith said of Northwest Missouri State. "I was worried about them from the end of last season, from the players they were returning and also from the players that (they) brought in."

Northwest Missouri State (15-11 overall, 4-3 MIAA) didn't look so good in the first game of the match. Or, perhaps it was that Fort Hays looked up to the same level that its opponents showed in the match's last three games. Northwest Missouri State committed 12 attack errors and Fort Hays jumped out to a 1-0 lead after winning the first game 30-22.

But Northwest Missouri State was not finished after one game. The Bearcats roared back to trounce Fort Hays 30-15 in the second game, then wrapped it up in the next two.

Fort Hays trailed for much of the night, often because of Northwest Missouri State's serving. The Bearcats came into the match leading the conference in service aces and they showed the Tigers why. They kept the Tigers' defense off balance with a combination of thunderous jump serves and hard-to-read floaters.

"They were serving BBs over the net and that's kind of where it started," Smith said. "If you don't get a quality pass out of that it's gonna affect your offense. If you don't send good offense at a team like that, they're gonna send it right back at you."

But Fort Hays players are quick to point the finger -- not at the other team playing well -- but at themselves.

"We got too down on ourselves and that's just something that we really need to work on," said senior hitter Neeley Remmers, whose 19 kills were not enough to keep her from being disappointed. "They didn't do anything outstanding besides be consistent. That loss was all on us."

Northwest Missouri State's balanced attack was led by three players -- Rachel Nisi, Alicia Johnson and Sara Falcone -- each of whom had 16 kills and five errors or less.

Fort Hays (14-11, 1-6) started strong but failed to get its third conference win in two years. But this team, it seems, is much different from the one that finished 3-25 a year ago.

By the end of last season, that squad seemed resigned to losing at times. Mistakes or bad plays were occasionally met with rolled eyes or even self-deprecating chuckles at one another.

This team is different. In the heat of a race for a spot in the conference tournament that the Tigers legitimately believe they should be in, this team is more emotional, more intense. After errors, these players no longer laugh.

They look genuinely angry at themselves and resolved to not let it happen again.

"We need to really work on staying positive out there," Remmers said. "We just need to keep the communication flowing and I think if we can do that we can stay positive and we won't get down on ourselves as much."

Fort Hays will play Tuesday against Southwest Baptist in Kirksville, Mo.

Will Manly is a reporter for The Hays Daily News and The Stir. He can be reached at (785) 628-1081, Ext. 139, or by e-mail at

will@thestironline.com.

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