​Eagles fall in five sets to Jaguars in district title game

by Michael Smith, Grain Valley News
 
The Grain Valley volleyball team was on a roll.
 
The Eagles came into the championship game of the Class 5 District 5 championship game against Blue Springs South with a 12-game winning streak.
 
In the first two games of the tournament, the No. 1 seeded Eagles dispatched of Rolla and Columbia Battle without dropping a single set. The Jaguars came in with an 8-26 record and were the No. 7 seed.
 
However, South was not an ordinary seven seed as it had won district championships the past two seasons. Grain Valley was locked in a dog fight with the Jaguars and the match went five sets. In the final game, the Eagles were unable to find an answer to stop senior Cameron Chace, who had five kills in the deciding set, including the game winner as Grain Valley fell 25-18, 23-25, 23-25, 25-23, 11-15 Monday at home.
 
“Blue Springs South has a difficult strength of schedule, that’s why their record was different,” Grain Valley head coach Tori Squiers said. “They have had a tough year, but their improvement for the year has been extraordinary. To take our district is a big deal for them.
 
We talked about defending (Chace) before the match. I wish I could say why we couldn’t shut her down, but she’s just a stud and got around our block.”
 
The Grain Valley defense had a hard time stopping the spikes of Chace, senior Brielle Gengelbach and freshman Kendall Bloom. In the fifth set, it was clear the Jaguars were trying to get Chace the ball as much as possible as she was an unstoppable force at the net. Despite Grain Valley senior Kyleigh Casey getting four kills in the set, it was not enough to overcome South’s strongest hitters.
 
Grain Valley raced out to a 18-10 advantage in the first game and a double block from junior Amayah Richberg and sophomore Kira Freeman sealed the first-set win for the Eagles.
 
The second game was a close one that featured five lead changes. Grain Valley led 20-19 at one point following an ace from senior Chesnie King, but South went on a 6-4 run to close it out and sealed the set win following a kill from Gengelbach.
 
Grain Valley trailed for most of the first set and were down by as many as eight points. It battled back, however, and eventually tied it at 23-23 on an ace from junior Makenna Lane. But Chace got two consecutive kills to put the Jaguars up two sets to one.
 
The Eagles started out fast in the fourth set and led 15-8, which was capped by a block from junior Piper Jackson. The Jaguars battled back and tied it at 21-21, but Grain Valley outscored South 4-2 the rest of the way, a run highlighted by Lane ace and a King kill to force a fifth and deciding set.
 
The fifth set also was tight, but the striking ability of Chace proved to be too much.
 
Grain Valley got a standout performance from junior middle hitter Piper Jackson, who had five blocks, but it was not enough to earn the victory. Jackson broke the school record for blocks in a season with 86 and also holds the school record for career blocks.
 
“She’s a stud. I am thankful we get her again next year,” Squiers said.”I am excited to see what she accomplishes next year. To make her an offensive threat is something we have to keep pushing, as well.”
 
The Eagles end their season with a 25-8 record and will see four seniors graduate.
 
“It was a really fun season and we made a lot of memories,” Squiers said. “We got to travel together throughout the summer. We had fun. They never gave up and that’s all I can ask.
 
“Those four seniors meant a lot to our team. I am excited to see where they end up after high school.”