KANSAS CITY, Kan. – A barn-burner in the metro would see the Cloud County Community College volleyball team win two of the final three sets of the evening to take a 25-18, 14-25, 22-25, 25-22, 15-8 five-set thriller over Kansas City Kansas Community College on the road on Thursday.
Avenging a loss from their season-opener, the T-Birds improve to 5-5 overall and 5-5 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference while the Blue Devils fall to 6-5 overall and 5-4 in the KJCCC.
Each team would take one of the opening two sets as CCCC would grab a 10-7 lead in set one before pulling away for a 25-18 set victory before seeing the Blue Devils bounce back with a 25-14 set two victory to tie things up at one set each.
In the third set, Cloud County would fall behind by a 13-9 margin as KCKCC would take advantage of the breathing room to carry their lead into the latter stages of the set. CCCC would battle their way back to get within two at 23-21 late, but two of the final three points of the set would go to Kansas City Kansas as the Blue Devils would grab a 25-22 set victory and go up 2-1 in the match.
Needing a set win to force a winner-take-all fifth set, Cloud County would come out poised to rally back as the T-Birds would claim a 13-9 lead to force KCKCC into a timeout. The four-point lead would not last long however as the Blue Devils would manage to battle their way back into a 19-19 tie as the hosts would look to end things without playing another set. A 4-2 CCCC spurt would allow the T-Birds to go up 23-21 and force Kansas City Kansas into their final timeout of the set as Cloud County would manage to get the set victory by a score of 25-22 and remain alive in the match.
It would appear as though KCKCC would take some early momentum in the fifth as three of the first four points would be scored by the Blue Devils, but the T-Birds would not be phased as CCCC would battle back to tie things up at 5-5. Cloud County would then take their first lead of the set at 7-6 as part of a 4-0 run that would force a Kansas City Kansas timeout as the tide would turn in favor of Cloud County. Out of the timeout, KCKCC would take the next point before seeing the T-Birds rattle off four of the next five to extend their lead to 12 as CCCC would be determined to avenge their loss from earlier in the year. The determination and grit from Cloud County would show down the stretch as a second Blue Devil timeout would not stop the T-Birds from ending the match on a 7-1 run to win the set 15-8 and take their first five-set match of the year.
Both Geraldyn Palacios and Natasha Dooley would reach double-digit kills on the night as Palacios would lead the team with 15 kills and five blocks while Dooley would provide 11 kills and 13 digs. Hollie Stewart and Delaney Miller each finished with nine kills on the night as Jaycee Burghart finished with a team-best 24 digs and 52 set assists.
What's next?
A quick turnaround for the T-Birds will see CCCC host Labette and Central Community College in a triangular beginning at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Cloud County and Labette will square off at 2 p.m. before facing off against Central at 6 p.m. Due to scheduling conflicts, only the final game of the triangular with Cloud County taking on Central will be live-streamed.
--cloudtbirds.com--