Verdigris falls to Elgin in Class 4A semifinals
BY JOSH HALEY World Correspondent
Sunday, October 07, 2012
10/07/12 at 6:08 AM
CHICKASHA - Verdigris' vigorous attempt to end No. 1 Elgin's perfect season came up short as the Cardinals fell 3-1 to the eventual state champions in the Class 4A state semifinals on Saturday.
"It's sad the way our journey ended but I could not be more proud of my girls," Verdigris coach Lonell Clark-Shew said.
No. 4 Verdigris (26-10) trailed 22-17 in the fourth set before stringing together a 5-1 run to pull within one point.
"We are a comeback team," Clark-Shew said. "Everyone on the floor and everyone on our bench was amazing."
Elgin (33-0) was able to hang on and win the final two points to earn its spot in the championship match. Elgin went on defeat Cache 3-1 to complete a perfect season.
Clinging to a 12-11 lead in the third set, Verdigris erupted for a 9-1 run that included three ace serves from Shelby Anderson.
The Owls responded with an 8-1 spurt to cut the gap to 22-20 before Verdigris captain Stacia Payne registered consecutive kills to help the Cardinals close out the set.
Verdigris came close to tying the match when they took a 23-22 lead in the second set thanks to KaLynn Thorp's ace serve but Elgin scored the final three points to go up two sets to none.
Payne, Correy Moyer and Courtney Risenhoover all tallied at least 10 kills for Verdigris, which is the only team all season to score at least 20 points in every set against Elgin.
Moyer was named to the all-tournament team.
Cache 3, Okay 2: What began as an impressive two-set lead turned into a heart-breaking, five-set loss for No. 2 Okay in the semifinals.
"We just kept fighting but it is a mental game and those last few sets we didn't play like we know how to," Okay coach Belinda Clark said.
With the second set tied 22-22, Okay (29-4) got its final three points from Bristen Graves to go up 2-0 on No. 3 Cache (29-8) for the match.
Original Print Headline: Verdigris falls to Elgin
4A State Tournament
At Chickasha
Friday's First Round
Cache def. Weatherford, 25-19, 19-25, 25-20, 25-22.
Okay def. Copan, 25-22, 19-25, 25-8, 20-25, 15-11.
Verdigris def. Oklahoma Union, 25-13, 25-14, 25-13.
Elgin def. Bethany, 25-20, 25-11, 25-15.
Saturday's Semifinals
Elgin def. Verdigris, 25-21, 25-23, 22-25, 25-23.
Cache def. Okay, 22-25, 22-25, 25-12, 25-16, 15-2.
Saturday's Final
Elgin def. Cache, 25-9, 25-21, 21-25, 25-9.
