COLUMN: Scott City VB has plenty to be proud of

Tears flow down the faces on both sides of the net.

For Arcadia Valley, it's tears of joy, as the Tigers advance to the Class 2 semifinals for the first time since finishing 2nd in 2018.

For Scott City, the tears come from the agony of defeat. A straight-set loss (20-25, 21-25, 17-25) on Saturday in Scott City brings the Rams' dream season to a thudding finale in the Class 2 quarterfinals.

The pain of coming up short of the semifinals is sharp, but it doesn’t dull the achievement of the Rams winning their first district championship since 2011.

“We had a great season,” Scott City coach Cindy Henry said. “The girls played really, really hard. We really push through a ton of adversity. We won our first title since 2011. These kids came in, they worked hard every single day.”

The Rams won over 20 games in the previous two years, but with only four seniors, the squad had to form on the fly with younger players assuming assertive roles.”

“We had a lot of young kids on the team stepping up and filling rows that we didn't really expect that we were going to need but they did the job,” Henry said.

The Rams finished 19-12-3 but with a schedule done by design to pit them against tougher opponents such as Notre Dame, Saxony Lutheran, and Advance. The adversity perfectly prepared them for Puxico and Woodland on their way to the elusive district title.

“I switched our schedule up to we needed we needed harder opponents,” Henry said. “In order for us to get to where we are we have to move faster, we have to do faster things we have to play harder. We have to be willing to do the hard things it took them a little bit to buy in but once they bought in you can tell how far it took us this year.”

Four seniors were tasked with leading the team this season. Mackenzie Lawless and Alyssa Dirden consistently led the Rams in kills, while they and Gracie Karrenbrock contributed in the dig department.

"They're four wonderful ladies," Henry said. "Start with Alyssa Dirden, she's an incredible athlete. She works hard in and out of practice. She just wants to be the best. You can tell when you see her on the floor and when you see her perform. Then you have Mackenzie Lawless. another really phenomenal athlete. She stands out on the floor. She plays really hard. Then Gracie Karrenbrock, I mean, just phenomenal speed. You can put her anywhere on the court and she can find the ball. Heidi Jones unfortunately had a shoulder injury and wasn't able to push to the end of the season but did well."

With the assist ace Ramsey Spinks set to lead next year's senior class, 2023 is just a continuation of Scott City's success.

"This program has been growing every single year," Henry said. "It starts in our middle school. We got a ton of middle school kids that are coming out. They were out here today cheering them on and I think that you're gonna see huge growth out of our program in the future. They're excited, they're hungry, they're working, they're playing, so I think it's just the beginning."