WEST PLAINS, Mo. – The Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Volleyball team will go into the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region 16 Championship Tournament Oct. 30 and 31 as the top seed after defeating Mineral Area College (MAC) 25-21, 23-25, 25-21, 25-22 Tuesday evening in Park Hills and Jefferson College 22-25, 18-25, 25-23, 28-26, 15-13 Wednesday evening in Hillsboro.
The Grizzlies, now 20-9 over all and ranked 11th in this week’s NJCAA Division I Women’s National Volleyball Poll, have a 4-0 regular season record in the region, giving them the tournament’s top seed.
“These were two huge wins for us,” Grizzly Volleyball Head Coach Paula Wiedemann said. “We’ve put ourselves in a position where we will not have to wait and see what happens next week when MAC and Jefferson play.”
Wiedemann said the Grizzlies went into the week knowing how important these two games were. Although their play wasn’t perfect, “they got in, got it done and got out,” she said.
“Mineral Area is always a tough place to play. The last few years they’ve had their Midnight Madness event for their basketball team right after our game, so the atmosphere of the gym was exciting. Our players handled it well, though.”
The Grizzlies had the opportunity to defeat MAC in three sets, but a series of hitting errors in the second set gave the Cardinals the edge. The Grizzlies regrouped, though, and won the next two sets to take the match.
Statistical leaders for the Grizzlies against MAC were sophomore outside hitter Pulotu Manoa, who had 19 kills, 17 digs, a passing rating of 2.38 and 20 points earned; redshirt freshman outside/right side hitter Stephanie Phillips, who had an attacking percentage of .423; sophomore setter Susannah Kelley, who had 44 assists; and sophomore middle attacker Ashley Bishton, who had three blocks.
“After we defeated MAC, we talked about being one step closer to the position we wanted to be in for the region tournament,” Wiedemann said. “Our region is so good this season, we didn’t want to have to play both teams in the tournament. Getting the No. 1 seed by going 4-0 is huge.”
Wednesday night, the Grizzlies walked onto the court in Hillsboro to find a Viking team, ranked No. 16 this week, ready to play. “Jefferson was hyped up, ready to play us, and we were ready to play them, but our demeanor on the court in the first two sets put us down 0-2,” Wiedemann said.
The Grizzlies did not communicate with each other on the court. Instead, they acted more like spectators, Wiedemann explained. “The way you communicate on the floor, the way you work through points, is all that matters. If you start working through points by talking about the things you’re doing, the score will take care of itself,” she said.
Jefferson officials had scheduled a short intermission between sets two and three so they could reveal the school’s new mascot and honor several individuals. The break gave the Grizzlies time to recalibrate and take the floor in a better state of mind.
Statistical leaders for the Grizzlies included Manoa with 20 kills and 21.5 points earned; sophomore middle attacker Zori Curry with 3.5 blocks and an attacking percentage of .387; Kelley with 52 assists; sophomore outside hitter Gabby Edmondson with a passing rating of 2.57; sophomore right side attacker Guro Froberg with two service aces; and freshman libero Autumn Reese with 29 digs.
“I’m so proud of these kids for getting through two tough matches,” Wiedemann said. “We found a way to win, even when we weren’t playing our best. We didn’t let the errors affect us, and we kept fighting through our issues. It was great seeing the emotion they had during and after the games were over. That feeling can be a big motiving factor as we get ready for post-season play. We can take things from these two matches and continue to build on what we need to do to be successful as we move forward.”
The Grizzlies will close out their regular season Oct. 23 and 24 at the Jefferson College Halloween Classic. Scheduled opponents include Hutchinson (Kansas) Community College and Seward County Community College, Liberal, Kansas, at 3 and 5 p.m., respectively, Oct. 23 and Illinois Central College, East Peoria, at 11 a.m. Oct. 24.
For more information about the Grizzly Volleyball team, visit its website.