9/27/14 • By The Telegram Staff
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. -- Maybe it was a hangover from Wednesday's five-set win over top-ranked Iowa Western Community College.
Or maybe it was not being used to tournament play. Perhaps both.
Whatever the reason, the National Junior College Athletic Association Division II, No. 3 Central Community College volleyball team stumbled Friday and Saturday winning two matches, but dropping two at the Johnson County Community College Invitational in Overland Park, Kansas.
"We had such a huge win on Wednesday, you wonder about the effects of that," Central head coach Mary Young said. "You don't know if you're going to come out swinging for the fences of if you're going to come out flat and I think we came out flat."
The Raiders lost to NJCAA Division II, No. 7 Kirkwood Community College 25-17, 25-15, 25-23 and beat Colby Community College 25-20, 25-20, 25-14 Friday. Central then defeated Coffeyville Community College 25-11, 25-10, 25-13, before losing to Cowley Community College 25-18, 25-20, 25-22.
Young said the Raiders were especially flat in their first matchup, which was against NJCAA Divison II, No. 7 Kirkwood Community College.
Skyler Erickson led Central with 14 kills in the match, while Molly Gotschall had a team-high 12 digs and Cassidy Yong added 31 assists.
But Kirkwood's middle block proved to be too much.
"Kirkwood certainly is a good team," Young said. "They played very tough against us and we couldn't get anything going in that match until the third set, which by then it's too late. I think really we looked like we were just flat."
Once Central finally found a rhythm late in the third set against Kirkwood, it stuck for the next two matches.
The Raiders downed Colby Community College 25-20, 25-20, 25-14 and took care of Coffeyville Community College 25-11, 25-10, 25-13 over Friday and Saturday.
"Those were some good matches for us so we could regain some momentum," Young said.
Then, in the last match of the weekend, Central faced Cowley Community College - a team the Raiders beat in four sets toward the beginning of the year.
"We saw Cowley in the first weekend and they had a coaching change, but they've really progressed in the last month and of course they want to be appreciated and they have something to prove," Young said. "They played inspired against us and we played flat. They were wanting to take us down."
That led to a Cowley win in three sets.
The biggest difference from the last time the Raiders played Cowley, Young said, was the amount of errors in the game.
Young noted Central had forced more Cowley errors in the first meeting.
"We didn't have that today and you can attribute that to a long week," she said. "To come to this tournament after that big match Wednesday, that's a big week. Obviously we expect our players to push through that, but we'll walk away and learn from it and hopefully be better next week."
Megan Anderson led the Raiders with 40 kills and six blocks over the weekend, followed by Erickson's 30 kills and five blocks.
"We did try to push the ball to Megan quite a bit," Young said. "She played smart."
Central hosts Southeast Community College Wednesday.
"You never want to lose, but you learn from this loss," Young said. "If it makes you better on Monday, we'll take it and build on it."
Friday at Overland Park, Kansas
Match 1
Central (16-3) 17 15 23
Kirkwood (18-2) 25 25 25
Match 2
Central 25 25 25
Colby 20 20 14
Saturday at Overland Park, Kansas
Match 1
Central 25 25 25
Coffeyville CC 11 10 13
Match 2
Central 18 20 22
Cowley 25 25 25
Central tournament statistics
* KILLS: Central - Megan Anderson 40, Skyler Erickson 30, Payton Chohon 23, Makaleigh Yantzie 19, Morgan Nikkila 17
* BLOCKS: Central - Anderson 6, Erickson 5, Chohon 4, Cassidy Yong 2, Yantzie 2, Makayla Augustine 1
* ACE SERVES: Central - Erickson 2, Molly Gotschall 1, Yong 2, Yantzie 1, Chohon 1, Hillary Thege 1
* ASSISTS: Central - Yong 117
* DIGS: Central - Gotschall 38, Yong 32, Erickson 24, Shayla Trotter 24, Brooke Robertson 21