Fountain Central's Marley Massey digs out a ball in the Mustangs sectional loss to Lewis Cass.
JEFFERSON — Fountain Central was unable to overcome a slow to start in a 3-0 (25-10, 25-16, 25-23) sectional loss to Lewis Cass on Thursday night at the Clinton Prairie Class 2A volleyball sectional.
“I think we did a good job of preparing,” Fountain Central coach Alyssa Larson said. “I think we did exactly what we needed to this week in practice. I think we did what we needed to today prior to the game, and then I think we walked out and we were a little scared and overwhelmed. I don’t think we expected them to come out with the fire they came out with, and it caused us to question who we are for a while there. And then we got it back, it was just a little too late.”
The Kings strung together runs of five and eight points in a row to take control of the match with the lopsided first set win. Lewis Cass improves to 7-19 on the season, and will face Seeger on Saturday morning in the semi-finals, while Fountain Central closes out the season 8-19.
The Mustangs started to claw back in the second set. After facing a seven-point deficit at 13-6, Fountain Central responded with a 7-1 run to make it 14-13, but the Kings ended the set on an 11-3 run.
“I think my senior Reagan Oswalt gave us a little spark,” Larson said. “She started getting on people a little bit, and hitting the ball harder, and usually once we get a little bit of that it all starts clicking.”
Fountain Central came out on fire in the third set — taking a 14-9 lead — but Lewis Cass scored five straight points, and eventually held on for the win to earn the sweep.
Alexis Griffin joined Oswalt as the two seniors that played the last games of their careers on Thursday.
“They’ve given a fantastic four years.” Larson said about the duo. “They work hard, and they’re intense. They spend every second in the summer in the gym, and they’re going to do anything that is asked of them.”
