Graduate two Division 1 players?
No problem, reload with offensive depth and a young, stacked defense.
Ozark’s one of the few programs that can afford such a luxury and the Tigers utilized their new-look style to perfection Tuesday night in a two-set win over Class 3 power Rogersville.
With an array of girls in the 5’11” to 6’1” range to throw around the net, Ozark kept Rogersville’s defense guessing and the Wildcats’ offense off-balance in a 25-21, 25-21 outcome.
PHOTOS: OZARK VS. ROGERSVILLE VOLLEYBALL
“Anyone, at different times, can be hot,” said Ozark coach Adeana Brewer. “It’s hard for the other team to know who to focus and key in on because it could be any attacker.”
In the first set, it was senior and varsity newcomer Lexie Johnston providing the biggest impact as she closed the Ozark win with a kill and block on back-to-back rallies. Johnson led all players with three blocks.
In the second set, Ozark dug deeper into its arsenal, playing through attackers like Macey Putt, Kaylan Smith, Julia McCown, Kinadie Wilcox and Sidney Branson. The latter three are all underclassmen who played on the JV last season.
Putt led Ozark with seven kills, which is about on par for Ozark’s scoring this system. Brewer said the Tigers typically have a handful of players average four-to-eight kills per match in a new-look offense.
“We’re running a bit of a different offense because we’re so big at the net. It’s a three-middle offense, with two setters in the back all the time then three attackers at the net all the time,” Brewer said. “It’s a different look for us, but it’s working so far.”
An undersized Rogersville team didn’t go down without a fight. Rogersville fell behind early in the first set before rallying to tie it 12-all, only to have Ozark answered with a 6-0 spurt to pull away.
Ozark again built a quick lead in the second set and appeared to be on the verge of putting the Wildcats away, but four straight points got the Wildcats within 21-20. Ozark answered with two strong kills by Putt to close the victory.
Rogersville coach Tammy Miller said Ozark has the look – and appearance – of a dominant team, something she wants her players to emulate.
“I looked at (Ozark’s) lineup and it was like: 6’, 6’, 6’, 6’1” and then they had one 5’8” kid on the front row,” Miller said. “(Ozark) walks out on the court and they’re very poised and ready to go. That’s what I want our kids to be. When we run up against a team like that, don’t tuck our tails and run, just keep going at them. I felt like after a couple of timeouts, we gained a little confidence and went back at them. Hopefully we learn from it.”
Rogersville fell to 9-2 overall with the loss, both defeats coming to quality Class 4 teams in Kickapoo and Ozark. The Wildcats host Branson on Thursday.
“I don’t think we played awful but it’s about minimizing errors, especially against really good teams,” Miller said. “You can’t miss serves, you have to pass better, keep ourselves in our own system. Ozark took us out of our system we had to rely a lot on our outside hitters. But overall I’m happy with how hard our kids played.”
Ozark improved to 7-4 overall, with the four losses coming to Arkansas teams the weekend of Aug. 26-27 at the Bentonville (Ark.) Early Bird Tournament. The Tigers travel to Mountain View-Birch Tree Liberty on Thursday for a matchup against the 2014 Class 2 state champion Eagles.
“This is a fun group to coach. They’re very selfless and very excited for each other,” Brewer said. “It’s a team effort and it just makes it exciting. I think it’s fun to watch because you don’t know where the (attack) is going to come from. There are a lot of weapons on the floor, so you don’t know who to key on.”
OZARK STAT LEADERS
Kills: Macey Putt, 7
Assists: Brynn Bonewell, 12
Digs: Molly Taylor, 11
Blocks: Lexie Johnston, 3
ROGERSVILLE STAT LEADERS
Kills: Birdie Hendrickson, 11
Assists: McKenna Miller, 15
Digs: Hanna Hendrickson, 5
9th
Ozark 25-25
Rogersville 23-15
JV
Ozark 25-12-25
Rogersville 22-25-19
