Draft survives

STUARTS DRAFT — Stuarts Draft and Fort Defiance split their regular season, tied on top of the standings and needed five games during Saturday’s Southern Valley District finals to decide the district’s top dog heading into the Region III tournament.

After falling in the first two games, Stuarts Draft rallied to win the next two and force a Game 5. The game dragged on until an ace by Draft’s Jessi Ramsey put the tournament trophy in the Cougars’ hands. Draft won the title match 23-25, 25-19, 25-10, 15-17 and 19-17 to earn top seeding in the Region III tournament and the first-round bye that comes with it.

“I knew we had to do it and I knew we could,” Ramsey said.

After two aces from Erin Brown, the Cougars took a demanding 14-9 lead but the Indians did not fizzle out like in the previous two games. Brown’s next serve went into the net, Kamron Johnson blasted an attack out-of-bounds and then had a net violation. Johnson, whose attacks had been on target for most of the night, hit another ball into the net to knot the game at 14. Fort’s Kayla Pleskonko hit a dink to give Fort a 15-14 lead, but Johnson finally found her mark and smashed a kill through the Fort backline.

“It was amazing, it was just really crazy,” Johnson said.

Tied at 15, Draft’s Ariel Christy hit her serve out, but Aliya Stevenson canceled the errant shot with a dink over the net. Stevenson scored on another soft hit to give Draft a 17-16 lead, but the score was tied again when Stevenson hit an attack into the net.

She made up for it on the net point with yet another dink that fell into the close corner.

“We knew after they won the first two, we knew we had to win the next three,” Ramsey said. “We came together and pulled through.”

Leading 18-17, Ramsey took the service line and caught Fort’s Backline on its heels for the game-winning ace.

“I don’t think I was thinking,” said Draft coach Kami Meeteer. “I’ve learned threw coaching and playing that you have to be mentally tough. You have to, no matter the situation, you have to be steady. I try to give that to them and be calm but I try to be excited.”

After winning Games 1 and 2, Fort knew that trouble would be brewing in the third. The third match has been a thorn in the Indians’ side for most of the season and Saturday’s match would be no different.

“We came out really strong in Game 1 and 2 but, Game 3 is our hard part, and it has been,” said Fort coach Lynn Alexander. “I don’t even know; we just got stuck to the floor.”

Draft dominated and allowed Fort to score only 10 points.

The momentum was in Draft’s corner during the fourth game, and with the help of three aces from Christy and three kills from Johnson the Cougar’s were off to a 17-6 lead. The Indians woke up after Tiffany Lockridge hit an ace, but they couldn’t make up the gap and fell 15-17.

“We made a heck of a comeback in Game 4 but it was just to little too late,” Alexander said. “We tried again in Game 5 we had some chances and Draft gave us some chances, that is where the cards fell.”

The Cougars will have Monday off and will play the winner of the Northside and Heritage game during Round 1 of the Region III playoffs on Tuesday in the semifinals.

“This is our third match this week,” said Meeteer. “We get a day off and then we can work on something we need to and than watch the team we will be playing.”

Fort Defiance will host Liberty-Bedford on Monday.