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By Dana Harding
Some teams are just built for the postseason.
Ozark survived a third-set scare from Kickapoo to win the Class 4, District 11 championship Wednesday night in Branson (19-25, 25-12, 25-15).
The victory marks eight consecutive district titles for Ozark and brings its overall record to 25-9 this season. The previous seven trips to the state tournament for the Lady Tigers all resulted in final four berths.
Streak aside, the 27-8 Lady Chiefs seemed ready, willing and able to put an early end to Ozark’s season.
After splitting the first two sets, Kickapoo stormed out to an 8-3 lead in the third and forced Ozark head coach Adeana Brewer to call an early timeout.
On the district ropes with a season hanging in the balance, Brewer issued a simple challenge to her team.
“I just told them we could chip away, one point at a time, and create some momentum,” Brewer said. “We talked to some of our hitters that we knew were holding back. We told them this is the time to shine and go to that next level, and they took off.”
For Ozark, that next level featured a stunning 10-0 run that put Kickapoo on its heels.
Junior Macey Putt’s strong service game helped regain momentum and control of the match for the Lady Tigers. In the blink of an eye, Kickapoo’s hot start was flipped into a 13-9 deficit.
“Macey Putt was huge at the service line,” Brewer said. “I think we kind of got into their heads at their serve-receive. It got them out of system and forced them to just chuck balls to the outside instead of running their middles or their offense.”
Putt’s dominant play, both attacking and defending, helped key the Ozark comeback. She finished with 13 kills and 20 digs to lead the Lady Tigers.
Brewer praised her standout hitter, who is currently mulling over scholarship offers from Missouri State, Arkansas State and Southern Illinois – Edwardsville.
“Macey has a decision to make in the next couple weeks between three division one schools,” Brewer said. “We know she’s a D-1 player, and those kids are expected to rise to the occasion. We challenged her, she responded, and that’s what you’ve got to have.”
Middle hitter Kaylan Smith led the Lady Tigers with 6 blocks, and setter Kennedee Anderson registered 26 assists in the match.
Despite the disappointing loss, Kickapoo head coach Marci Johnson was proud of her team’s play.
“Kickapoo volleyball fought tonight,” Johnson said. “We had enthusiasm, we had energy … it didn’t come out on the scoreboard, but tonight was a good night for Kickapoo volleyball.”
Recalling Ozark’s back-breaking run in the third set, Johnson knew her team was playing with fire.
“You just can’t let good teams go on a run like that in this game,” Johnson said. “You’ve got to convert points and earn your own. We dug ourselves a little bit of a hole that we couldn’t get out of.”
A trio of Kickapoo seniors close out their careers with strong performances. Middle hitter Allison Long led the Lady Chiefs with 9 kills, libero Kamryn Artale tallied 16 digs and setter Kaelyn Faria had 27 assists.
Up next for Ozark is an Oct. 22 sectional match at home against Willard. The winner of that game faces the winner of Blue Springs South vs. Carthage in the quarterfinal round.
