Leopold beats Osceola for third place in state

~ The Wildcats rallied after dropping the first game Saturday.

WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- Leopold junior outside hitter Casey Bucher said Leopold girls usually start playing volleyball in fifth grade and until high school, their teammates primarily consist of other members of their class.

So when she was a freshman and was named a starter on the varsity, she was playing with some girls she didn't know very well. But she said the then-sophomores greeted her well, and now two years later, she feels like part of their class.

"I've been playing with them for so long I feel like I'm a senior, too," she said. "We have good chemistry with each other."

And Bucher played a big role Saturday in helping her eight senior friends finish their high school careers with a victory.

The seniors leaving on a high note was on her mind during the Class 1 state third-place match against Osceola after the Wildcats dropped the first game 25-15.

"I just knew that in the second game we needed to pick ourselves up and start over again and win the next two," she said.

Win the next two games was exactly what the Wildcats did, defeating the Indians 15-25, 25-12, 25-14 for third place in Class 1.

Bucher led the team with 13 digs and was second in kills with seven.

Leopold appeared to play nervous in the first game, like it did Friday when many members of the team admitted that nerves prevented them from playing well early on.

But Leopold coach Sandy Davis calmed her team after the first game Saturday.

"They were tense," she said. "We just kind of realized we weren't playing our game. We were making mistakes that we usually don't make, so I just told them to relax.

"First game our passing was off. It wasn't effective. But the second and third game we were passing and defense was good and there were rallies in there and we were picking up balls. I'm so proud of the way these girls played. It's such a good way for them [the seniors] to end their careers at Leopold."

Davis said her team also began to make better sets and mix up the passing at the net so the Indians defenders, especially Brooke Jurgensmeyer, could not block shots.

"We kept on moving the ball around," she said. "Cassie Seiler set the ball in different places and the hitters would go in."

Seiler added: "We got our nerves out and we decided to play well. We were all like, 'This is our last game. We need to go out with a bang,' and we did."

Maddy Hutchings led the team with 14 kills. She was also a force on defense, helping the Wildcats collect nine blocks as a team.

Hutchings said after the first game her coach made some adjustments, such as moving the back row of defenders forward on serves to prevent some of the holes the Indians were hitting to during the first game.

Hutchings, who moved to Leopold from Jackson about seven years ago, said it was nice to end on a high note.

"I didn't even know what volleyball was until I moved here," Hutchings said with a smile.

Bucher said she'll miss playing with the seniors next year.

"I'm just going to miss the girls in general," she said. "We have such good attitudes. I'm just going to miss them a lot."