Lind-Ritzville defeats Valley Christian

RITZVILLE — The Lady Broncos enjoyed a senior night romp of visiting Valley Christian Tuesday.

Senior night marked by success

RITZVILLE — The Lady Broncos enjoyed a senior night romp of visiting Valley Christian Tuesday.

Five seniors were recognized by the Lind-Ritzville team and crowd for their participation in the volleyball program over their high school careers, including: Celina Summers, Jenna Kragt, KyLee Schmunk, Joce Krause and Marcy Heidenreich.

In game one it was Kragt who separated her team from the Lady Panthers.

"Jenna is good everywhere," said Lind-Ritzville head coach Jennifer Kuch.

Lind-Ritzville traded points and side outs with Valley Christian until Kragt's turn behind the service line. With the score tied at three, Kragt stepped up her service game, earning six points, including four consecutive aces and forcing a time out by the Lady Panthers.

Valley Christian tried to play catch up but could not get a run started. Every time the Lady Panthers earned a sideout, it seemed Lind-Ritzville had an answer.

Those answers were often tough team play by the Lady Broncos along with kills from Schmunk and Kragt.

After the Lady Panthers battled to within three points, Lind-Ritzville earned a sideout and Schmunk headed back to serve. Schmunk's stint behind the line earned the Lady Broncos seven points and an 11-point lead at 19-8. Schmunk earned an ace during the scoring drive and on defense for the Lind-Ritzville Kragt racked up two hits to keep the drive alive.

Valley Christian earned their final three points of the game on the following possession but were stopped short by a kill from Kragt.

Heather Hunt served out the game from the Lady Broncos, her team helping her earn five consecutive points to put Valley Christian away 25-11.

The Lady Panthers showed some spark to begin game two, earning a 4-0 lead on Lind-Ritzville during their first possession.

Two timely kills from Laura Cain kept the Lady Broncos in the thick of the game. Cain's second kill led to a lead change on the serving of Krause.

"Laura had a very good night at the net," said Kuch.

Krause earned four consecutive points, including three aces, to put Lind-Ritzville up 9-8 on the Lady Panthers.

Valley Christian regained the lead a few possessions later but not for long. Kragt earned a kill to give Lind-Ritzville serve.

Hunt pushed the Lady Broncos ahead, winning three points for her team. She had help from Elissa Bouwman and Kragt who each had kills for a point during the possession before siding out.

"Elissa was impressive," Kuch said. "She had some hits we didn't know she could do."

After a kill from Schmunk, Krause stepped behind the line to serve out the game, earning seven points serving for Lind-Ritzville and earning a 25-16 win.

In the final game of the night, the Lady Broncos dominated Valley Christian, coming out strong after the break and earning a quick five points in their first two possessions.

Kragt served back-to-back aces to put Lind-Ritzville up 8-3 before the Lady Panthers mustered a sideout. Valley Christian quickly lost possession.

Krause added four points, including two aces, to the Lady Broncos' score and had her serving followed by another 4-point gain from Cain to put Lind-Ritzville up 18-6.

The final service points of the night scored by Lind-Ritzville were from Stephany Steinberger who served five points for the Lady Broncos to make it 24-7 before Valley Christian earned the sideout.

The Lady Panthers could not stave off the Lind-Ritzville win and lost 25-8 on a kill by Katlin Fowles.

Kragt led the Lady Broncos with 11 kills, five aces and nine blocks. Hunt had five assists and Krause had four digs for Lind-Ritzville.

After the win, Kuch said Lind-Ritzville would continue to look out for Wilbur-Creston and Reardan to be scrappy, tough matches for the Lady Broncos.