Lady Wildcats sweep Region B tourney; enter State bracket at #2

Three Fleming Lady Wildcat seniors made their final home appearance on the volleyball court last weekend. The trio - Whitney Chintala, Sam Pope and Zoey Vandenbark - led their team to a number two ranking in the opening bracket of the post season giving them home court advantage for regional pool play. The squad hosted the La Veta Lady Redhawks and the Springfield Longhorns last Saturday.

As the highest seed entering the Region B tournament, the Lady Wildcats took the court for matches one and three. They opened the day with a sweep over the 23rd seeded La Veta Lady Redhawks, 25-21, 25-14 and 25-19.

The Lady Wildcat servers sent over a combined 95 percent of their attempts in the match. Senior Zoey Vandenbark, junior Kally Kirkwood and sophomore Madi Serrato led the team from behind the line. All three players served 100 percent for the contest with two aces apiece.

At the net, the hitting duo of Kirkwood and senior Whitney Chintala both hit double digits in kills. Kirkwood led with 13; Chintala added another 11.

That same pair also split duties as the team's setter. Chintala led with 17 assists; Kirkwood put up 12.

Four Lady Wildcats tallied blocks at the net on defense. Kirkwood led with four assisted blocks. Junior Maddy Harms, Vandenbark and Pope followed with two assisted blocks apiece.

Junior Libero Lexi Schaefer led the defensive efforts from the back row with 22 digs. Chintala followed with 13 digs in the match.

Fleming's serve receive game was handled entirely by three players. Schaefer led with 18 receives and just one error. Vandenbark and junior Laney Schliesser followed with 15 passes each.

Their second and final match of the day brought the Springfield Lady Longhorns to the opposite side of the net. Springfield entered in the number 15 slot. The home team swept the match, 25-6, 25-17 and 25-17.

The local team again combined to make good on 95 percent of their serves. Serrato led the team with three aces after going nine for nine behind the line. Chintala and Schaefer followed with two aces each.

Kirkwood and Chintala again split hitter and setter's duties. Kirkwood led in both categories with 16 kills and 15 assists. Chintala put 12 kills on the ground and 13 assists in the air.

Four players earned blocks on defense. Chintala tallied one solo block while Vandenbark, Kirkwood and Harms each tacked on one assisted block.

Vandenbark led from the back row in defensive digs with 13. Kirkwood followed with 11.

Schaefer led the Lady Wildcats' serve receive game with 15 passes. Schliesser also hit double digits with 11.

Saturday's victories combined with several other seeding factors gave the Lady Wildcats the number two spot in the 1A State Tournament bracket which is set to be held at the Broadmoor World Arena in Colorado Springs this Thursday through Saturday. Briggsdale enters at number one. The top four teams, Briggsdale, Fleming, Haxtun and Merino received first round byes. All four teams will open the State Tournament with matches on Thursday afternoon, Nov. 11.

Fleming's first match is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. They'll face off with the winner of Thursday morning's match between number seven Idalia and number 10 Flatirons Academy.

A win on Thursday would put the Lady Wildcats in a match on Friday at 3:30 p.m. with the winner of Thursday's match between Haxtun and Stratton or Belleview Christian.

A loss on Thursday would put them in the elimination bracket in a match scheduled for 11 a.m. on Friday.

The 1A State Championship, a mere three wins away for the 20-5 Lady Wildcats, is slated for 6 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 13.