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| Panther volleyball suffers state heartbreaker |
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| Sports | |||
| Written by Gene Morris | |||
| Wednesday, 04 November 2009 08:00 | |||
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SALINA — Like all the great suspense novels, no one could have guessed how the Paola High School state volleyball story would eventually unfold after the eighth-seed Panthers shocked top-seed Abilene by scoring 14 of the first 18 points of the day in its first round action.
Who would have guessed, leading 14-4 against the Cowgirls, that the Panthers would not win the game?  Paola would not recover from that loss, falling to Abilene in straight sets 24-26 and 19-25. Playing the defending state champion St. James Thunder, the Panthers were struck a deadly blow in a 0-13 start. Did anyone think Paola would be held to two points, even against Class 4A power St. James? Paola lost the game 2-25 and would lose the match in two games, falling 9-25 in the second set. Down to its last match, did anyone really believe Paola would leave the Bincentennial Center without winning a single game? It happened. Paola battled Girard in its last match, but could not salvage even a single game from the Trojans, losing both games with identical scores of 20-25. “I’ve enjoyed it,” coach Michelle Abshire told her team. “We have really come together as a team. You have worked your butts off. You followed two 30-win teams and you did things they didn’t do — you won league and substate in the same season — we carried on the tradition and will continue to do that. I’m very proud of you. You achieved a goal you set at the beginning of the season to get here.” Briana Mueller and Kayla Offutt were involved early in the offense with kills against Abilene, and Kelli Cullor drove in an ace as Paola went out to a 14-0 lead. Abilene rallied back from 13-20 to 17-23 and 21-24 before scoring the final five points of the game to defeat Paola by two points, 26-24. “We caught Abilene off guard,” Abshire said. “We were playing very well and came up a point short. We competed with the No. 1 team as an eight seed.” The opening round heartbreaker was met with a second-round humbling in a 2-25 loss to defending state champion St. James. Paola fell behind 0-13. Paola lost the second 9-25, all but eliminating the Panther’s chances of coming out of the pool for the second day of state volleyball. Paola took a 9-6 lead in the first game against Girard, but the Trojans tied it at 10-10 and then scored five of the next six points for a 15-11 advantage. The Panthers called a time out, and the Trojans tacked on another four consecutive points to make it 19-11. Down 17-24, the Panthers closed to 20-24, before losing the game 20-25.  Girard pulled away again at 10-10 in the second game. Paola was down 10-16 when coach Abshire called a time out. Trailing 18-24, Paola closed it to 20-24 for a second straight match, only to lose the game 20-25. “Every team here is good, and the little things you get points on during the regular season, you don’t get here,” Abshire said. “I was so proud to be one of eight of 64 teams to get to play another week. I did feel like we got better even though it didn’t show up in the score. We competed and played hard, even when it was 24 points in the last match, they were still getting blocks, kills and aces.” Playing in their final high school volleyball matches for the Paola Panthers were Briana Mueller, Kayla Offutt, Hillary Watrous and Allison Wood. Mueller said state was the end of her volleyball career. “That was my last game of volleyball,” she said. “It wasn’t the way I wanted to go out, but that happens. Paola wasn’t meant to win state this year. Everything happens for a reason.” Mueller was hoping for a better 18th birthday present, like advancing to the semifinals Saturday. “Everyone wants to be playing volleyball on their 18th birthday,” Mueller said. “We reached our goal to get here and that’s a good thing. No one thought we would be here, we proved everyone wrong and made it. It hasn’t hit me that it’s over. I’m going to miss the girls, we’re all so different and we learned how to be friends.” Wood, the Panthers’ field general at setter, said the team was like no other she had ever played for in high school. “This is the most improved team I’ve ever played on from the start of the season to the finish,” Wood said. “At the start of the season, we didn’t even know who was going to start, I think that made us work harder in practice. “We accomplished a lot this season,” she said. “We had some big shoes to fill, no one really expected us to get here. I’m so proud of our team, winning league and substate in the same season is something no one else has ever done.” State was part of the dream, Offutt said, but winning a match would have been a more fitting end to the team’s 28-win season. “It was really significant for us to just get here. A lot of people didn’t think we could do it,” Offutt said. “But coming here and not winning one game was kind of a downer, because it made us feel like we didn’t achieve anything. But we did, and I’m very proud of it.” Watrous knew state would happen this season, it was something the outside hitter could just feel from day one. It was a group of girls that loved to play the game, and even in their disappointment, they never stopped playing. “Even in the last match we kept playing hard. This team has a big heart,” Watrous said. “It is a pretty good group. We play with a lot of passion for the game of volleyball. “It was fun to get here,” she said. “We wanted to do better than we did, but just being here was a goal. It was a good way to go out.” The tradition lives on, Abshire said, and Offutt, Mueller, Watrous and Wood were all part of passing that along. Paola has set high standards and has some quality players coming back to write the next chapter in hitters Kelli Cullor and Melanie Golubski. “Kelli Cullor played about the best volleyball she had today,” Abshire said. “It’s great to see a junior do that at the state tournament.” Golubski had some huge kills and strong jump services all day. “Melanie Golubski had her best day today,” Abshire said. It is a team that takes a lot of pride in Panther volleyball. “This team was focused on keeping the tradition alive,” Abshire said. Members of the Frontier League tournament champion, substate champion and Class 4A state qualifying Paola Panthers are Kelli Cullor, Elizabeth Edwards, Kristin Engbroten, Paige Getz, Melanie Golubski, Courtney Johnson, Briana Mueller, Mallorie Nelson, Kayla Offutt, Jeri Stephens, Hillary Watrous and Allison Wood. Team managers are Megan Brown and Amber Harris. Michelle Abshire is the head coach. Assistant coaches are Joni Reed and Robin Branine.
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