Jackson Heights Sub-State Volleyball at Valley Heights
With a first-round loss to Rossville, the Jackson Heights Lady Cobra varsity volleyball team saw its 2018 season come to a hard-fought conclusion in the sub-state tournament at Valley Heights, but Head Coach Denise Visocsky said she is proud of how the team came together for a winning season in terms of overall record.
“Overall, we played well. We just didn’t quite have enough in the tank to get it done,” said coach Visocsky, whose Lady Cobra squad finished the season with a 20-17 overall record and a 6-10 finish in the Northeast Kansas League.
Rossville came out hard in the first set, beating the Lady Cobras 25-18 and prompting Visocsky to get the team to make some adjustments for the second set.
“We knew what to expect,” she said. “The first half of it was fairly close for us.”
The Lady Cobras found themselves down 23-17 in the second set, but came back to tie it before losing the momentum at the end.
“We just couldn’t quite grasp it at the end,” Visocsky said.
Junior Kylie Dohl and senior Karley Dieckmann set the tone for the rest of the team, she noted.
“Kylie has been good for us all year long, and she played really well for us this weekend,” Visocsky said. “And Karley had some really good spots where she made some adjustments and found some open areas. It’s really helped us a lot.”
Saturday’s match with Rossville marked the end of a high school volleyball career for Dieckmann as well as for senior Sydney Raborn. But with a lot of young talent on the team, Visocsky said she is looking forward to the team’s potential for 2019.
“Our biggest thing is working on communication and having confidence in what we’re doing,” she said. “Kylie has led us all year long, so we’re hoping she can continue in a leadership role next year. And since we’re only graduating two seniors, the potential is there to be able to pick up and continue the success we’ve had in the past two years, changing the program around a bit.”
The sub-state tournament at Valley Heights also saw Atchison County Community High School’s 2018 season ending on a first-round loss to host and overall champion Valley Heights, which took the match in straight sets.
Scoring
Class 2A Sub-State Tournament
Valley Heights High School
Preliminaries
Jefferson Co. North def. Horton 25-7, 25-8
Rossville def. Jackson Heights 25-18, 28-26
Valley Heights def. ACCHS 25-10, 25-11
Oskaloosa def. Republic County 25-22, 20-25, 25-19
Semifinals
JCN def. Rossville 25-19, 25-21
Valley Heights def. Oskaloosa 25-8, 25-12
Championship
Valley Heights def. JCN 25-17, 25-23