Kitty Kats fall in Falls City district opener

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  Libero Nina Villarreal digs up a pass against a tough district opponent. PHOTOS BY VALERIE STUART

  Libero Nina Villarreal digs up a pass against a tough district opponent. PHOTOS BY VALERIE STUART
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  Palyn Koopmann serves against the Beaverettes in the Kats district opener.

  Palyn Koopmann serves against the Beaverettes in the Kats district opener.

Tuesday, Sept. 24 the Kitty Kats opened district play against one of the predicted toughest opponents, Falls City. The Kats fell short in the away game, losing in three sets, 25-23, 25-16, and 25-14.

“Starting off with a district loss is never the plan, but these girls are eager to work on the things we can control as we head into future games,” Head Coach Ashtyn Henkes said.

In set one, a tip out of the middle by Sydnie Krueger gave the lead to the Kitty Kats, 23-22. A missed serve by Yorktown tied the set. Their opponent's outside hitter killed the ball to bring the set to game point, 23-24.

Henkes called a timeout for the Kitty Kats. Freshman Palyn Koopmann passed the ball out of serve receive and Krueger took a big swing, the Beaverettes dug the ball and hit from the outside, Koopman again passed the ball and Braleigh Dodds set the outside position. Brilye Campbell had a hard hit and the Beaverettes passed the ball into the net but were able to dig it out and send it over. The ball hit the floor in a controversial call with some believing the ball was out of bounds. The ball was called in and the set concluded, 2523.

The middle of set two was a back and forth battle before the Falls City squad pulled ahead and extended quite a large lead, 2516.

In set three, the Beaverettes jumped off to a 7-1 edge over the Kitty Kats. To end the Beaverettes run, Claire Person recorded a kill from the outside hitter position, 7-2, Falls City scored from the right side, but Person again found an open hole, 8-3. Gracie Stehling blocked the ball but it still made its way onto the Yorktown side when Dodds sent the ball over and caught the Falls City defense by surprise, 8-4. The Beaverettes would go on a lengthy run until a double block by Carly Weischwill and Stehling gave possession to the Kitty Kats, 12-6. The opposing outside hitter became hard to contain and Falls City inched their way closer to winning the match. The game concluded with Yorktown falling short, 25-14.

“We never recovered after dropping the first set. It was a close match and our defense didn’t execute set two which led to miscommunications in set three,” Henkes said.

The Kitty Kats will host district opponent Kenedy on Tuesday, Oct 1 with the start time set at 6:00p.m.