By Chris Parker
Galena volleyball got out to a slow start against School of the Ozarks but finished fast on the way to a 3-0 sweep in the Class 1 District 9 championship game.
School of the Ozarks battled Galena closely throughout the first set before the Bears pulled away for a 25-22 first set victory to take a 1-0 lead.
In between sets, the focus for Galena was on getting the passing game going.
“Our passing came around in sets two and three, which allows us to run more options on offense. That was the big key,” Galena head coach Joe Miller said. “Our serving was pretty consistent in all three sets. We didn’t miss any serves that last set. When you eliminate some of those unforced errors, that just gives you more opportunities to score.”
The consistency in the passing and serving game led to two dominant sets for Galena winning set two 25-13 and set three 25-10 to clinch a second consecutive district title.
Kaesha Walter was at the center of the action for Galena with 22 of the Bears’ 37 kills in the match. She also contributed 14 digs, 11 serve receptions and two assists.
The Bears only committed errors on two of 73 serve attempts in the match for a 97.3 serving percentage with 12 total aces. Half of those aces came from Baylee Stacy with six. Stacy also led with 19 digs in the match. Bree Rice contributed 19 assists to account for more than half the Galena assists. Melanie Rice led Galena with 17 serve receptions.
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Galena advances to the state tournament for the second time in as many seasons, but the Bears will not get caught looking ahead to a potential trip to the final four in Cape Girardeau.
“We have preached all year that the next match is the most important. That is the philosophy we have had,” Miller said. “I don’t know who we are playing next Thursday, but that will be the most important match of the year, so we will come out and be fired up.”
Galena will face the winner of the Class 1 District 10 tournament at home on Thursday.
It is a home court advantage that was evident on Saturday.
“It is important (the crowd). The girls feed off of that (energy),” Miller said. “We have had good support all year. Any time you can sleep in your own beds and don’t have to get up early and travel, it makes it so much easier. We (also) had pretty good support from our students on a Saturday. You put it all together and it is very important.”
The win moved Galena to 33-1-1 on the season with the 33 wins establishing a new program record. School of the Ozarks finishes 24-15-3 overall.
