Scott City rallies after slow start at volleyball final four

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Scott City volleyball team's second trip to the final four did not start as planned.

The Rams entered pool play Friday morning knowing they first would face Hermann, which defeated them in the state championship match a year ago.

They wanted revenge and they wanted to let the 10-time state champion Hermann team know that this year they didn't plan on settling for second place, even if the Bearcats' shirts claimed, "The tradition never graduates."

Then it all fell apart.

Instead of making a point, the Rams admitted they were intimidated.

Hermann made beating Scott City look easy in a 25-16, 25-19 sweep. The Rams held a lead just once, at 2-1 to begin the second game.

Scott City regrouped from its disappointment to sweep Maryville and College Heights Christian to finish round-robin play and earn one more shot at its biggest rival.

"We wanted them this year," setter Katie Diebold said. "That's all we could talk about was coming to state and beating them in the championship. That's all we wanted was to play Hermann and to beat them.

"It was OK if we lost to them in the round-robin tournament, but we wanted to kill them when we got to the championship. We wanted it so bad."

But in order for the Rams to come away with a different result, a major adjustment had to be made.

"We knew coming into today that we had to completely change our mindset," Scott City coach Haley Jennings said. "We went into it yesterday kind of scared, nervous. Today, we were ready."

Senior Brooke Simpson, who admitted to being intimidated by Hermann, changed her mindset before she left the gym Friday.

"I want to come in tomorrow acting like we've already won," she said. "I want them to know that we're not going to back down. They beat us this morning. That does not mean anything. We're going to bring it."

With a smile on her face and more than a touch of optimism in her voice, she laid out the plan for victory in the championship match.

"We're not going to get blocked, we're not going to miss any serves, we're going to make great passes and we're going to beat them," she said. "Easy as that. That's what's going to happen."

It wasn't quite that simple Saturday. But Scott City, which hadn't won a game against Hermann in six attempts, did defeat the Bearcats. It took two games for the Rams to claim the school's first state title in volleyball.

"Yesterday we came in kind of not knowing how we were going to play," outside hitter Stephanie Essner said. "We had that decision to make.

"Today we didn't have that decision. We knew we had to play to their level and more, and we had our spirits high. We had belief in all of our teammates."

Although the Rams trailed by small margins in both games, it was Hermann that showed signs of frustration first as Scott City edged ahead in the opening game.

Most of Hermann's frustration seemed to be a result of a much-improved Scott City block, which unlike the day before, was able to get enough touches to influence the Hermann hitters.

"Honestly, I have the medal around my neck, and I still can't believe it," Diebold said. "I took pictures with the trophy and it still hasn't clicked in my mind that I'm a state champion. It's just crazy."

But it was all part of the Scott City plan to pay back Hermann for a year spent waiting for its state title.

"We came in knowing we could beat them and they came in knowing it was their game, and it wasn't," Jordan McFall said. "It was definitely going to be ours this year."