Clay County Times-Democrat: High School Sports: Lady Mohawks fall in district tournament (10/21/09)

Lady Mohawk Kelsey Nagy pounds a kill in action Saturday at the district volleyball tournament at CRA. Also pictured are Piggott players Breanna Yates (left) and Breanna Wright.
(Times photo/Tim Blair)

[Click to enlarge]

For the first time in nine years the Piggott Lady Mohawks will not be taking part in the 3A state volleyball tournament next week. The Mohawks fell victim to the parity in 3A-Northeast conference this year, and to the senior-laden Hornets of Harrisburg in the second round of the district tournament at CRA this past Saturday.

At the beginning of the season the coaches from 3A-Northeast voted to hold a conference tournament, departing from the process of taking the top three regular season finishers to state. That move, combined with the parity found among the top five teams, meant all but top seeds Brookland and Crowley's Ridge Academy had to compete for the final spot at state at Saturday's tourney.

For the Lady Mohawks, who finished fourth in conference behind Brookland, CRA and Harrisburg, it meant trying to get by the Hornets..a team that they split with in the home-and-away regular season series this year.

In the first round games early Saturday Hoxie got by Walnut Ridge 26-24, 19-25, 27-25 and 25-16 to advance to take on CRA. In another early game Harrisburg easily beat Ridgefield Christian 25-10, 25-13 and 25-16 and in the final first round game the Lady Mohawks polished-off Bay 25-9, 25-4 and 25-8.

In the second round Saturday afternoon Crowley's Ridge Academy eliminated Hoxie in four games, 25-12, 29-31, 27-25 and 25-13.

And in the final game of the day Saturday afternoon the Lady Mohawks fell to Harrisburg despite winning the first game in a decisive fashion. The set scores were 25-11, 21-25, 21-25 and 18-25 in favor of the experienced Hornets as they advanced.

Monday evening Harrisburg beat CRA 25-21, 18-25, 25-23 and 25-23 to move into the championship match with the Lady Bearcats. In that set Brookland held off the Lady Hornets 25-17, 22-25, 25-23, 15-25 and 15-9 to take the district title and the top seed going into next week's tournament at Harrison. Second place honors go to the Hornets while the Lady Falcons will be going to state as the third seed from 3A-Northeast.

Tuesday night the Lady Mohawks were scheduled to host Greene County Tech at PHS for senior night. The match, which had been planned as a tune-up for next week's state tournament, will be the final set of the year for the Tribe and the senior members of this year's squad.