Cougars Fall Short in District Volleyball Final

Durant High's bid for a district volleyball title may be over, but its season isn't.

Plant High (18-8) played a well-rounded match and had bouts of brilliance Thursday night en route to a 3-1 victory over the Cougars to claim the Class 8A-District 7 championship at Bloomingdale High School.

"There's a lot of great volleyball in this district," said Panthers head coach Amy Rumore. "I think District 7 has some of the best teams around."

In game one, Durant (9-11) was still riding an impropable wave of momentum into the final after shocking Bloomingdale in the district semifinal. The Cougars hung right with the Panthers in the early going. A great volley ended in a Cougar point and closed the score to 9-8. However, the Panthers began to wrest control away thanks to some great play at the net by junior middle back Taylor Hart. The Cougars fought off three game points, only to fall 25-20.

In game two, the Panthers jumped out to a 10-1 lead and looked nearly flawless as junior outside hitter Sydney Stasch served nine straight points.

"That was a nice stretch where I was able to just relay the calls and not have to coach on every point," Rumore said.

Durant battled back thanks to a great effort from sophomore outside hitter Lexi Thompson. The Cougars cut the lead to five points, but the Panther defense closed the door and took the game 25-19.

From there, the Cougars were supposed to lay down and accept that they would take the No. 2 seed into regionals.

They did just the opposite.

They took a quick game three lead at 6-4 and battled Plant for every point. Stasch and Thompson pounded away at each other in a show of offensive firepower. Thompson finished the match with 17 kills to Stasch's 15. Game three was tied at 13, then again at 23 before Stasch was wide with a spike at 23-24, and Durant went on to take the game 25-23.

"By game three we felt like we had a chance; we started gelling, playing well together," said Durant head coach Brittany Wilson.

"Together, together, together," Wilson shouted from the bench during the match.

The Cougars hung tough, tying it at 15, but the Panthers began to exert their will as the Cougars' team chemistry started to disintegrate. Another great volley took place at 18-13, but the Panthers would pull away with some great blocks at the net and shotgun blasts by Stasch. Senior middle back Kate Dooley finished the game with back-to-back kills to win 25-17 and take the district championship in four games.

"This team is hungry," Rumore said. "We've got a few girls that see this as their last go at volleyball, and they are stepping up."

"We feel like we have what it takes to go deep in the playoffs," said Plant junior libero Kylie Parks.

Parks had a tremendous match, serving five aces and digging out 34 hits, many of those blasts coming from Thompson.

"(Thompson's) a heck of a player, one of the best hitters around," Parks said.

Despite the loss, Durant felt confident going into regionals next week.

"We worked hard, fought back in it," said senior middle back Chelsea Bowden.