​Eagles start strong, but falter late in season-ending loss to Bruins

by Michael Smith
 

The Grain Valley volleyball team looked like it was on its way to a Class 5 District 5 berth.
 
The Eagles handily won the first two sets against Columbia Rock Bridge in the district semifinals and led the third set 10-8.
 
However, from there, Rock Bridge mounted a comeback with a big-third set run and the Eagles dropped tightly-contested fourth and fifth games to lose their two-set lead and fall 25-18, 25-18, 18-25, 24-26, 13-15  in Saturday’s season ending loss at Truman High School.
 
“The other team started using our block and we had to adjust,” said Grain Valley head coach Tori Squiers, who was referring to multiple blocks from the Eagles that went out of bounds. “The other team started taking advantage of our weaknesses.”
 
Grain Valley (17-9) broke a 9-9 tie in the first game with a 16-11 run to take a one set-lead. Senior Megan Davies led the way in that one with three kills and an ace that bounced off the top of the net and found a spot on Rock Bridge’s side of the floor. Senior libero won it with an ace.
 
In the second set junior outside hitter Kayla Gallagher went off with six kills. She had three consecutive kills that highlighted a 5-0 spurt that allowed the Eagles to build a cushion and eventually take a two-set lead.
 
They led the third game 10-8, but the Bruins countered with a 17-8 run led by senior Addyson Avlis, who had three of her team-high 14 kills. In the game, Grain Valley didn’t appear as organized as it did in the first two, which led to some errors and strikes that went out of bounds.
 
In the fourth, the Eagles had its largest lead at 11-7 but couldn’t hang onto it as the Bruins game back to tie it at 14-all and eventually take the advantage. Grain Valley fought back to take a 23-20 edge following a 9-6 spurt that was aided by a Davies block and kill.
 
Moments later, Grain Valley was one point away from taking the match with a 24-22 lead, but the Bruins swung the pendulum of momentum the other way. They got some big- time kills from Avlis, junior Addison Adams and senior Mya Clapp, whose strike at the end gave Rock Bridge the 26-24 win to force a fifth and deciding set.
 
“We have to make sure we aren’t playing it safe and continue to be aggressive,” Squiers said. “We tried to make fewer errors and that unfortunately led to more errors.”
 
Rock Bridge jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the fifth, but Grain Valley went on a 5-0 run of its own to go up by one point, highlighted by kills from Gallagher, senior Isabella West and sophomore Kyleigh Casey. It was a see-saw battle from there until Rock Bridge took the lead for good on a kill from Avlis to go up 8-7. The Eagles kept it close from there but a deciding back row kill from Clapp ended Grain Valley’s season as her Bruins won the final set by two points.
 
The Eagles will lose eight seniors to graduation, including seven who saw significant playing time in 2023.
 
“We were in a unique scenario where we had eight seniors,” Squiers said. “It’s funny when you tell other coaches that. Sometimes they are like, ‘That could be bad or that could be good.’ We were in a fortunate scenario where it was a good thing. We had eight seniors who were leaders.”
 
Gallagher led the Eagles with a team-high 18 kills and five aces.