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By Kai Raymer (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Julia McCown grew up admiring former Ozark stars like Caroline Clifford, Paige Perry, Kendra Sater and Lexi Johnston.
Now, McCown and her Ozark classmates are doing the same thing their idols did.
Win district championships. Every single year.
Ozark made it 10 straight district championships on Wednesday, controlling the match from start to finish in a straight-set win (25-20, 25-21) over host Nixa.
“I grew up knowing about the Ozark volleyball program since I was in, like, 5th grade,” McCown said. “I really wanted to play volleyball and contribute (to the program), and that’s what I’m doing still.”
The Class 4 District 10 champions head to Willard on Saturday for sectional competition. Ozark’s made the most of its district title run – the Tigers have gone on to reach state each year since the streak began in 2009.
“This team always starts the season (knowing about the streak) and it’s a huge amount of pressure for them,” said Ozark coach Adeana Brewer, who took over as coach in 2014. “As they go throughout the season and find that confidence and figure out what we need to do on our side, I feel like our program just continues to get better versus plateauing.
“It helps that the classes the previous years really lay that foundation and that path. Because once you get a taste of winning, that’s what you strive for.”
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE MATCH
Led by the play of McCown, Katie Vorhies and Ceci Westfall, Ozark dominated at the net. Vorhies had a match-high 16 kills and McCown recorded five blocks.
Westfall, a junior who was injured at the start of the season, gave Ozark a lift with several kills down the stretch in the second set.
“Ceci’s worked hard to get back and give herself an opportunity to get on the floor,” Brewer said. “She was really good tonight.”
Holly Luginbill and Haidan Baade recorded eight digs apiece for Ozark. Kennedee Anderson had 35 assists.
The Tigers were first to 15 in both sets.
Trailing 16-10, Nixa rallied in the second set to get within 20-19. Westfall recorded three of her five kills over Ozark’s final five points and also had a block.
Ozark (29-4-1 overall) twice beat Nixa in three-set matches during the regular season.
“We’ve been preparing for this match for days and weeks,” McCown said. “We really wanted to pop off and make this our night.”
Ozark faces COC rival Willard in the sectional round on Saturday. The winner of that match will play either Blue Springs South (28-6 overall) or the to-be-determined District 11 winner (finals on Thursday), which features top seeds Carthage and Carl Junction.
Nixa, which toppled Kickapoo 25-18 and 25-14 earlier in the night, finishes 22-9-2 overall.
