By Kary Booher (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
STRAFFORD — The end of last season drove the offseason, and the thought of it kept rushing back Monday afternoon – the early exit from district, a broken string of success, the conversations afterward.
No way was a repeat going to happen on the watch of senior Christa Duffel, junior Abby Chadwell and the Strafford High School volleyball team.
Instead, the Lady Indians surged to their seventh district championship in nine seasons, beating the rival Fair Grove Lady Eagles in four sets to win the Class 3 District 9 title on Monday night at Strafford High School.
“This is something we worked so hard for,” Duffel said after the 25-20, 25-14, 18-25, 25-11 victory. “When it finally got to game day, we looked up and knew we’d be there for each other.”
Days after rolling an ankle, Duffel finished with 14 kills and three blocks, Chadwell had 41 assists and senior Emma Mullings tallied 33 digs for Strafford, which will host the sectional at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
That the Lady Indians (27-3-3) can say that means, well, everything. A year ago, an early exit marked only the second time in coach Ashley Bough’s tenure that Strafford hadn’t won a district – the last time being 2013.
“Last year, we sat down and talked about how things we needed to work,” Duffel noted, explaining there was more dedication in the offseason. “Our chemistry was so good this year. I felt that helped us.”
You figured it would be a contested evening, considering Fair Grove and Strafford are Mid-Lakes Conference rivals whose schools are only about 15 minutes apart.
In the fourth set, Fair Grove led 6-3 as the Lady Eagles naturally fed off momentum from their third-set win and seemed poised to flip the script on the night.
However, Sophia Frerking – another key front-liner for Strafford – had three kills in a short sequence, and the Lady Indians began feeding Duffel the ball from there. Her back-to-back kills made it 22-8.
Mainly, Chadwell and the hitters worked in tandem well – no surprise to Chadwell, who noted she and Duffel have been playing together since the seventh grade. And naturally they were in the celebration after the awarding of the trophy.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE MATCH
“It means a lot (to win district),” Chadwell said. “Last year was a really hard season for all of us.”
The victory was rewarding, too, because Fair Grove pushed them. In the opening set, the Lady Eagles had forged an 18-18 tie before Frerking’s kill set up Strafford’s mad dash to the win – when Strafford had aces on four of its final six points.
Strafford raced to a 7-1 advantage and led 18-8 in the second set and, when Fair Grove pulled to within 23-13 and seemed to gain some steam, Duffel’s kill restored order.
Bough praised the team’s effort and also singled out two freshmen, Sophia Venosdel and Aubrey Suter, who stepped into key roles in a semifinal victory against Salem on Saturday. The coach also appreciated Duffel for nursing her ankle in order to be ready for Monday.
“Fair Grove brings it,” Bough said. “It’s always a battle. (After the third set), I told them, ‘You’ve got to shake that off. You have to have confidence in your ability.’”
In other words, Fair Grove played much better than its record (13-14). Kameron Green had 14 kills and two blocks, and Brooke Daniels 21 assists – and made one of the most impressive plays of the night.
Daniels chased down an errant ball in the deepest corner of the gym, helping Fair Grove score a point and hang around.
To a proud Fair Grove coach Tonya Peck, who emerged from an understandably teary-eyed postgame meeting, the play sort of summarized the season.
“There were no expectations this season,” Peck said. “We struggled last year, and we had a lot of new girls come in and (challenge for spots). Our upperclassmen could have been sour about it. But they showed leadership that we needed. I think that’s why I’m hurting right now. I think it says a lot about our team.”
