WEST PLAINS, Mo. – Area volleyball fans should expect a great weekend of action Friday and Saturday at the West Plains Civic Center when the Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly Volleyball team hosts the Grizzly Invitational Tournament.
Three teams currently ranked in the top 20 nationally by the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), as well as two teams who make frequent trips to the national tournament, will be among the competitors. Joining the 13th-ranked Grizzlies will be No. 17 Jefferson College, Hillsboro; No. 20 Wallace State Community College, Hanceville, Alabama; former national champions Miami Dade College, Miami, Florida; national tournament contender Hutchinson Community College, Hutchinson, Kansas; and Colby Community College, Colby, Kansas.
“It will be two days of fantastic volleyball for everyone who comes out to watch,” Grizzly Volleyball Head Coach Paula Wiedemann said, while thanking Colton’s Steak House and Grill and Lazy W Pallets for sponsoring the event and helping the Grizzly Volleyball program provide this opportunity to bring great teams to West Plains to play.
The Grizzlies will take a 14-9 record into the Grizzly Invitational Tournament Friday and Saturday, Oct. 9 and 10, after posting a 2-2 record this past weekend at the Tyler Junior College Invitational Tournament in Tyler, Texas. On Friday, Oct. 2, the Grizzlies defeated Western Texas College, Snyder, 26-24, 25-16, 21-25, 9-25, 16-14, but fell to the host team, ranked No. 1 in the country, 25-21, 25-27, 14-25, 25-22, 10-15. On Saturday, Oct. 3, they defeated Odessa College, Odessa, Texas, 25-16, 26-28, 25-23, 25-18 before falling to No. 16 Blinn College, Brenham, Texas, 26-24, 25-15, 22-25, 25-27, 12-15 in another hard-fought, five-set thriller.
“We had a rough week last week with illness,” Wiedemann said. “Five to six of our players were out of practice more often than not, and we weren’t quite over it when we went into the weekend. You could see the effects of that throughout the weekend. Even so, we did some good things, but we were not 100 percent by any means.”
Although they struggled, Wiedemann said the Grizzlies “got through” the match against Western Texas, a team that started off the season ranked and could advance past their region in postseason play. After winning in five sets, the ailing Grizzlies immediately had to turn around and play the No. 1 team in the nation.
“Tyler is No. 1 for a reason, but we really pulled it together and played pretty well against them,” Wiedemann said. “It was good to see our kids play at a high level against the top team right after playing a five-set game. We weren’t 100 percent, but it was nice to see us put the effort together.”
The Grizzlies had dominated Odessa at the Hutchinson Community College tournament Sept. 25 and 26, but it took them four close sets to get past the Wranglers. “Odessa played much better, and we played pretty well. We did some nice things on defense, which helped with our offensive efficiency,” Wiedemann said.
The loss to Blinn, however, was difficult. “It was a tight match throughout, but to go up two sets then lose it was tough. We missed too many serves and had opportunities to keep it from going to a fifth set but didn’t get it done. Blinn is playing better, but we didn’t capitalize on the opportunities we had to finish them,” the coach said.
“We’re still lacking a killer instinct on a consistent basis,” she continued. “We’re not maintaining it the way we need to, and that’s something we will continue to talk about and work on.”
Statistical leaders for the Grizzlies were sophomore outside hitter Pulotu Manoa, who had 60 kills and four service aces; sophomore middle attacker Zori Curry, who had 13.5 blocks, including seven solo blocks, and an attacking percentage of .371; sophomore setter Susannah Kelley, who had 170 assists; and freshman libero Autumn Reese, who had 95 digs.
“Zori had a really good weekend,” Wiedemann said. “It’s obvious what we’re working on in practice is improving her game. She had a consistent weekend that made a difference for the team.” In addition to the team-leading blocks and attacking percentage, she also recorded 58 kills.
Wiedemann also praised Reese for bouncing back from a difficult day on the court Friday to a really good day defensively on Saturday, as well as freshman outside/right side hitter Stephanie Phillips, who “did whatever we needed her to do this weekend.”
For more information about the Grizzly Volleyball team, visit its website at http://wp.missouristate.edu/grizzly/vb/.