School of the Osage and Versailles met in the first round of the Class 3, District 9 playoffs, coming off similar regular seasons to one another and trading wins in the first three meetings between the two squads. In the district matchup, the Lady Tigers took advantage of their postseason experience and the home court to win 25-22, 25-14.
"Both teams have been up and down," Versailles coach Shelly Garr said. "You're hoping at districts you kind of reach a plateau, but sometimes that doesn't happen. I was glad we were up instead of down."
Neither team generated any sustained rallies in the first match, remaining close through a rash of poor serves. Versailles (18-12-3) inched ahead until the No. 4 seed Lady Indians (12-13-5) closed the gap with a 4-point run behind the serving of senior Kirsti Coats.
“It was back and forth the first game," Osage coach Lee Baker said. "I think Versailles kind of has a history of winning and they know what that's like, especially, at the next level, here at districts. I think that paid off for them a little bit.
“Even though I've got a bunch of seniors, they were excited and passionate, but not in the right kind of 'We're going to finish this' kind of way. They were jacked up but didn't really know what to do with it. That hurt us a little bit there.”
Trailing the Lady Tigers by two point, a long serve by Coats allowed the host team to maintain the lead at 15-12.
An ace by Coats made it a 1-point match at 21-20, but Osage never made up the difference.
“We had a bunch of serving errors and we just couldn't pass the ball," Baker said. "Passing was very, very weak, and when you can't pass, you can't start anything. It was absolutely nerves ... the difference in the game was our missed serves, period. They found it and we didn't. They figured it out and we didn't.”
Junior Dayley Eppenauer served up the winning point for the No. 5 seed in the opener.
In the second match, Versailles pulled out to a 5-0 lead behind the serving of senior Abby Vogt. The Lady Tigers then held a substantial lead the rest of the way.
“I thought we played well and more consistent,” Garr said.
Only twice in the closing match did the Lady Indians put together back-to-back points. First, after a long serve by Versailles, when Coats recorded a kill to make it 5-2, then after senior Jordyn Harris recorded a kill and served up a point for Osage to make it 20-12 in favor of the Lady Tigers.
Versailles junior Raven Woods had a pair of kills in the the second match.
Overall, Coats had six kills and a pair of aces. Senior Alyssa McNerney and Harris added five and four kills, respectively for the Lady Indians.
In the four games played between the two Tri-County Conference foes, the two teams broke even at 2-2.
“We played in their tournament, and we played them on that same floor, with that same net — in pool play we lost in two games. They handled us pretty well, just like they did tonight — we got to the tournament and we played three games. Our first game was real tight,” Baker said. “The second two games we handled them pretty well. So I can't say it was the court. My girls have beat them on this court.”
The Lady Tigers now face No. 1 seed Boonville in the semifinal Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
“They're tough,” Garr said. “I think it helps being here. That's always an advantage.”
