By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Seeking the program’s fourth straight district title, the Diamond volleyball team had its hands full early on Saturday against visiting Sarcoxie.
But after dropping the first set 25-19, the Wildcats got stronger in every set after and went on to cruise to a 3-1 victory in the Class 2 District 11 championship match.
Diamond (23-12-2) nabbed its fifth district crown in six seasons and will face the District 12 winner on October 31 in the sectional round of the playoffs.
“We started off a little bit slow, I think just the nerves of playing on our home court and the girls put a lot of pressure on themselves,” said Diamond coach Haley Wheeler. “We tried to emphasize this is a gift, there are only 32 teams in Class 2 that are playing today. Take it for what it is and just have a little bit of fun, play for each other. You’ve worked too hard to make the moment bigger than what it is. I think they did a great job adjusting to that and coming out in that second set with the mindset of whatever happens we’re going to stay calm, cool and collected and focus on the next point. Winning that second set was all that we needed to gain momentum going into the third and fourth.”
After the six-point loss in set one, it was still a close match in the second with the top-seeded Wildcats holding a 14-13 advantage midway through after a Sarcoxie kill by Jordyn Misner. Diamond scored the next five points, though, and led 21-14 after kills by Talyn Daniels and Aubrey Ball. A kill by Lauren Turner made it 24-18, and then Callie Thomas finished off the set with a kill to make it 25-20.
The visitors fell behind early in the third before tying it at 9, but Daniels answered with a kill and the Wildcats led the rest of the way with Kabrie Parmley, Turner and Ball scoring key points late en route to a 25-14 win.
And then the fourth set was all Diamond––the Wildcats opened up an 11-0 lead with Turner, Ball and Thomas making contributions. A Turner kill made it 13-2, and then she served up two aces and tallied another kill to push it to 17-2. Turner finished off the Bears with two more kills for the final of 25-7.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE MATCH
“We started out really strong,” Sarcoxie coach Erica Spittler said. “I feel like we kind of got in our own heads. Diamond’s been a really tough team for us over the last few years. This season alone we’ve played them twice before districts so we knew how tough it would be. Coming out with a lot of momentum, it just deflated. Made a couple mistakes and we couldn’t come back from it.”
“All of our hitters did a great job whether that was finding openings in the swing or being a big block or getting those off blocker touches and frustrating the other team,” Wheeler said. “Our hitters include Talyn Daniels, Lauren Turner, Aspen Daniel, Kabrie Parmley, Aubrey Ball, Callie Thomas. They were super heads up and on the defensive side of things, our libero Addie Beckett and Kabrie and LT and Aubrey and Kenz in the back row just refused to let a lot hit. All around it was a team effort from the floor to the bench. Our bench did a great job keeping them focused on what was next. I’m proud of the way everybody contributed today.”
Third-seeded Sarcoxie finished with a 14-19 record in a season that Spittler said was filled with adversity.
“We’ve had two concussions, a back issue, a broken foot, a sprain right before coming into districts,” she said. “The adversity we faced, it shows me these girls can come back. They are strong enough. Just the growth itself has been monumental for them.”
“Every time we see them they play us really tough,” Wheeler said. “I love coaching against her. I know it’s a little bit of a rivalry but she does a great job with the program and her girls did a great job today as well.”
Diamond, meanwhile, is seeking its first trip to the quarterfinals during its streak of district titles. The Wildcats were knocked out in the sectionals by El Dorado Springs last fall.
Wheeler said some intense work in the weight room and offseason has prepared her team for moments like this.
“We’ve just built the culture of nobody cares, work harder,” she said. “It helps us in moments of high stress and high intensity because they’re willing to do more for each other whenever you suffer a little bit in the weight room or over the summer. It just helps to build that character and that team unity you need in the postseason.”
