Park Hill sophomore Parker Kimball (#22) hits the ball towards Park Hill South sophomore Vada Brattin (#4) in the Lady Panthers’ 3-2 win Sept. 5.
KANSAS CITY – The Park Hill South volleyball team (3-3) bounced back from a first set loss to Park Hill (2-4) to come out with a five-set victory over the crosstown rival on Sept. 5.
The opening set was tight early being tied at 3 before Park Hill South junior Peyton Liming had an ace to start a run for the Lady Panthers. Park Hill went on to trail as much as 11-5, but fought back to steal the set, 25-23, by scoring the final two points.
Set two was close as well, having notable ties at 10, 15 and 24. Park Hill junior Karis Barton had a kill to give the Lady Trojans the upper hand, but the Lady Panthers scored three straight to win the set and tie the match.
The following two sets were less competitive with Park Hill taking a 2-1 advantage with a 25-15 set three win. Park Hill South extended the match in set four with a 25-18 victory, taking control after a 9-9 tie.
Going into a fifth set for the second straight time in the series, history repeated itself and Park Hill South came out on top. With set five being to 15 points instead of 25 points, the Lady Trojans only scored nine points and lost their fourth consecutive match of the season at the time.
Ava Daneff and Addyson Staples both had 13 kills, while Emily Watson erupted for 35 digs and 26 receptions for Park Hill. Park Hill South was led by Sydni Lafasciano’s 23 kills, 19 digs and four blocks.
Park Hill has had a rocky start to the fall after winning its season opener in four sets against Lee’s Summit (2-2) on Aug. 29. On that night, Emily Jones dished out 18 assists and Daneff had 11 kills.
The Lady Trojans hit the road and were in a tight match with Staley (2-4) on Aug. 31. Park Hill lost the first two sets, pulled set three away in extra points and tied the match before falling 3-2 with a 15-11 set five loss.
Park Hill took on Blue Springs (3-3) and Blue Springs South (4-1) in a triangular, losing to both in two sets, on Sept. 2. The Lady Trojans recovered from the 4-match losing skid by defeating Liberty (0-1) in four sets at home on Sept. 7.
Park Hill South had an identical start to the season ahead of the matchup with Park Hill, winning its season opener and dropping the next three. The Lady Panthers opened the season with a sweep over Lee’s Summit North (1-4) on Aug. 28.
Park Hill South went to Kansas for its first road match, losing 3-0 to Lansing (3-1) on Aug. 31. The Lady Panthers lost to Blue Springs South in two sets and Blue Springs in three sets on Sept. 2.
Park Hill South took momentum from the win over Park Hill, taking down Staley in five sets to reach .500 on Sept. 6. The Lady Panthers will hit the road to take on Lee’s Summit and the Lady Trojans will head to Lee’s Summit North (1-4) on Sept. 14.