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Basehor-Linwood escapes Tonganoxie with 5-set victory; THS 7th at Rossville

By Shawn Linenberger - | Sep 23, 2015

Anyone wanting to take in some thrilling sporting events might want to check the Tonganoxie High volleyball home schedule.

Though the Chieftains lost another tough match in five sets last week, the squad had archrival Basehor-Linwood on the ropes last week at the THS gymnasium.

The Bobcats won the first match, 25-12, and then the back-and-forth between the two squads was on.

The Chieftains broke a 20-20 tie with five straight points and won the second set, 25-20.

Basehor-Linwood proceeded to catch fire in the third set and won it convincingly, 25-15.

In the fourth set, it was Tonganoxie’s turn to break out of the gates. THS opened with an 8-1 lead and evened the match at two sets with a commanding 25-14 victory.

Like its matchup with Eudora the week before, THS was playing in a five-set match.

Basehor-Linwood held a 6-1 lead early and Tonganoxie just couldn’t put together a big enough rally.

BLHS won, 15-8, and nabbed a Kaw Valley League victory in the process.

Tonganoxie setter Lauren Jackson said the squad has been playing well together and the Basehor-Linwood match was a good indication of that.

“We all played really well,” Jackson said.

She said the team would use the close call as momentum in moving ahead in the season. She said teammates continue to encourage each other throughout the matches, some of which can get lengthy when they’re pushed to five sets.

“We pick each other up,” Jackson said.

THS coach Tiffany Parker saw her team show plenty of fight against the Bobcats in the see-saw battle.

“Our defense played well,” Parker said. “I thought Lauren Jackson played well.”

The squad definitely was ready to go against its big rival, Parker said.

“Everybody’s going to get up for the six-mile-away rival,” she said.

Tonganoxie routs PRHS

The Chieftains bounced back Thursday with a three-set victory against visiting Pleasant Ridge.

The THS volleyball team won the match, 25-8, 25-10, 25-17. The victory pushed Tonganoxie’s record to 4-2 after Thursday’s winning competition.

Chieftains place 7th

Tonganoxie lost some close matches on its way to a seventh-place finish Saturday at the Rossville Invitational.

In pool play, Tonganoxie defeated Ottawa, 25-14, 25-19 and then fell to Silver Lake, 25-11, 25-23.

Abilene then defeated THS, 25-23, 25-20, before the Chieftains upended the Clay Center Tigers, 21-25, 25-17, 25-14.

In the consolation bracket, Tonganoxie lost a tough three-set match to El Dorado.

THS won the first set 25-23 before losing the second set, 29-27. El Dorado then pushed ahead with a decisive 25-18 victory in the third set.

That set up a seventh-place match against Wamego. The Chieftains handled WHS, 25-10, 25-16.

Silver Lake won the tournament with a 25-17, 25-14 win against De Soto. Abilene defeated Holton, 25-21, 21-25, 25-14, in the third-place match and Clay Center outlasted El Dorado, 20-25, 25-14, 25-22, in the fifth-place match.

Matches are best-of-three sets for tournaments and best-of-five sets in any dual competitions.

THS now is 6-5 on the season.

The team hosts the Tonganoxie Invitational with an 8 a.m. start Saturday at the THS gymnasium.

Teams in this year’s tournament are Bishop Ward, Bonner Springs, Eudora, Garden City, Gardner-Edgerton, Great Bend, Ottawa, Piper and Shawnee Mission Northwest.

Tonganoxie then travels Monday to Holton to take on Kansas City Christian and Holton. Matches start at 5 p.m. in Holton.