Trojans advance to district final, fall to Panthers

By Phil Cobb | October 21, 2015 |

CHRIS ROUSH/DAILY FORUM
Nodaway-Holt junior Macie Bohannon blocks a hit from South Holt’s Emma Ezzell during the Trojans’ 2-1 win in a semifinal match of the Class 1, District 16 Tournament.

In a thrilling night of volleyball at the Class 1, District 16 Tournament, the Nodaway-Holt Trojans upset host South Holt before falling to rival Mound City in the title match.

A 2-1, comeback victory in the semifinal contest against the Knights lifted Nodaway-Holt to the championship game, pitting the Trojans against the top-seeded Panthers. Despite a valiant effort from head coach Tobie Bohannon’s Trojans, Mound City captured a 2-0 win to take the title. Nodaway-Holt advanced to the district championship game for the first time in nearly 20 years.

“It’s kind of surreal a little bit,” Bohannon said. “At the beginning of the season, I said our goal was to compete. We definitely did that today. I’m pleased with our performance. Mound City is a great team, and we’ll get them next year.”

The opening set of the semifinal match saw the Knights claim a 25-22 win, giving them the edge to start the night. South Holt started the set with a 7-0 spurt to take an 8-1 lead early behind a pair of aces from Rachel Hunzinger.

Four-point and three-point bursts from the Knights moments later stretched that advantage to 15-4.

“We beat (South Holt) once at our tournament,” Bohannon said. “We came in knowing that we could beat them, but we knew we had to bring our best game. We got started a little slow, as we do a lot of times. But we brought it when we needed to.”

However, the Trojans bounced back from their early hole to put together a 12-0 run, taking a 16-15 lead after appearing to be dead in the water on the first set of the night. Junior Rachel Farmer led the Nodaway-Holt rally with back-to-back aces in the midst of the run.

Shortly after, another 4-0 burst gave the Trojans a 20-16 lead.

But the excitement peaked at that point for Nodaway-Holt, as South Holt answered with a 4-0 run before stealing the final three points of the set to take a 25-22 win and a leg up in the match.

Despite the loss to start the night, the Trojans’ momentum from the 12-point streak appeared to carry over into set No. 2 as they ripped off a 3-0 run for a 5-2 lead before darting to a 16-5 advantage behind another pair of 5-0 bursts.

Nodaway-Holt used those runs to eventually capture a 25-17 win to seal the second set.

“Our girls are conditioned, so we knew that if we could just make it through that second set, that we were just going to continue,” Bohannon said.

The third set provided another dash of energy, as the Trojans used a 6-0 run early to take an 8-2 lead. South Holt responded with a pair of three-point rallies.

After swapping runs for most of the set, South Holt narrowed the deficit to 20-18 before another 4-0 run knotted the score at 22-22.

Thanks to a kill from senior Jordan Long and back-to-back aces from Farmer, the Trojans snared a 25-22 win and advanced to the championship round.

“The girls were warming up by themselves before the game ever started,” Bohannon said. “They were hitting balls at each other. They were determined.”

The opening set of the championship contest saw the Trojans and Panthers go back-and-forth for much of the game until a late rally from Mound City.

Nodaway-Holt started the set with a 3-0 run before the Panthers responded with a pair of three-point spurts for an 8-6 lead. After a Mound City five-point run to take a 17-14 advantage, the Trojans knotted the score at 20-20.

The Panthers, behind senior Emily Wedlock, put together four straight points for a commanding 24-20 lead before eventually winning the set, 25-21.

In the second and final set of the title match, the Panthers jumped on Nodaway-Holt with runs of 4-0, 6-0, and 7-0 to take a commanding 18-6 lead. Though the Trojans put together three straight points to cut the deficit to 18-9, another four-point rally for Mound City put the game out of reach.

For the final point of the night, Wedlock powered home a kill to give Mound City a 25-12 win and a two-set sweep in the Class 1, District 16 Tournament championship.

Nodaway-Holt finishes the season at 15-12-1 and will lose the following seniors: Ashley Brashears, Jaylee Holmes, Frankie Lemar, Jordan Long, and Kennedy Sportsman.

CHRIS ROUSH/DAILY FORUM
Trojans senior Jaylee Holmes rises from the floor for a kill against South Holt on Wednesday, a 2-1 victory in the semifinal round of the Class 1, District 16 Tournament. Nodaway-Holt fell to Mound City, 2-0, in the championship.

CHRIS ROUSH/DAILY FORUM
Senior Frankie Lemar swats the ball back to South Holt’s side during a Class 1, District 16 Tournament semifinal win on Wednesday.