ERIE — Erie, Parsons and Jayhawk-Linn all left with one win and one loss in a triangular at Erie on Thursday night.
Erie lost the first match of the night to Jayhawk-Linn, 2-0 (27-25, 25-19) before taking down Parsons in three sets, 2-1 (25-23, 11-25, 25-21).
Parsons defeated Jayhawk- Linn in its other match, 2-0 (25-23, 25-20).
Erie gives up big lead over Jayhawk-Linn
In the first match of Thursday’s action, Erie led Jayhawk- Linn 22-15 in the first set before allowing the Jayhawks to come back and win.
“We just need to learn how to finish,” Erie head coach Sindy Daniels said. “We had the same thing happen to us at Baxter. We were up big and they came back to win in three sets. Finishing the game is tough for us. I don’t know if we run out of gas. But we’ve got to fix that.”
Makenzie LaRue had six kills while Kylie Hodgden and Jacksen Powell added three apiece for the Red Devils.
Vikings sweep Jayhawks Notching their first win of the year, the Vikings looked dominant through most of the match against Jayhawk-Linn. However, both set-wins required six-point comebacks.
“One thing I’ve noticed is that we’re a don’t-quit team,” Parsons head coach Dara Barr-Miller said. “I’m loving to see that we have that grit. It’s something I’m happy to see.”
Ayanna Robertson led the Vikings with six kills while Chassis Baker added five. Robertson also tallied three blocks.
Red Devils beat Parsons in three Erie won the first and third sets to beat the Vikings in a thrilling match – just ignore the second set where Parsons won by 14 points.
“When I look at my sheet from the sideline, we just couldn’t get balls put down,” Barr-Miller said. “We just have to put balls away. We can’t win easily when we’re not doing that. We can’t go back-andforth. Our defense was solid, but we have to take over.”
Erie had to withstand a late comeback from Parsons in the third set before eventually securing the victory.
“I called a timeout late and told the girls that we were up, so we had to finish,” Daniels said. “Our girls really responded well. We’ve had a lot of turnover this year. We had three seniors quit. Now we’re just trying to find ourselves again.”
LaRue amassed a dozen kills in the match while Rylee Palser assed five for Erie. The Red Devils thrived off mounting a solid block that kept the Vikings from teeing off.
“I was proud of how we did that,” Daniels said. “We messed up on our block against Jayhawk- Linn. For us to bounce back and start doing the little things right, that kept us in it.”
Braelyn Hinman-Mitchell led the Vikings with a dozen kills against Erie while Baker and Robertson added six.
“That first set against Erie, I noticed our passes were a little off,” Barr-Miller said. “We run a 5-1 and we were running a new offense tonight. I made an adjustment to where Saylah is setting from. That was an adjustment for us tonight. So we’re still working a few kinks out.”
Erie moved to 4-5 to start the season.
“I’m disappointed in our start and the kids are, too,” Daniels said. “I saw the spark in the summer. Now we’re starting to put a little flame to it. So hopefully we can keep building.”
Parsons competes in Iola tourney
The Vikings traveled to Iola on Saturday for a tournament. Parsons didn’t escape pool play as ot beat Coffeyville, 2-0 (2511, 25-12) but lost in three sets to Anderson County, 2-1 (1925, 25-22, 29-27) and host Iola, 2-1 (23-25, 25-18, 25-21).
Those matches moved Parsons’ record to 2-6 to start the year.
“I didn’t think we’d be right here with our wins and losses,” Barr-Miller said. “But I see it. It’s right there. We’ve got some young players on our team and once we find the right combination, we’ll start racking up the wins.”
Braelyn Hinman-Mitchell of the Parsons Vikings flies up for a kill against Jayhawk-Linn at Erie High School on Thursday. Sean Frye/Sun photo
