Fort wins SVD title

FORT DEFIANCE – Fort Defiance successfully topped Stuarts Draft, though it wasn’t an easy or consistent match, winning in four games 30-28, 25-12, 25-27, 25-21 to gain the title of Southern Valley District tournament champions.

The first game was a true battle in every sense of the word. The score seesawed early on, but the Indians were able to pull away when capitalizing off of Cougar mistakes, though it was a short lived run for the Indians.

With the score at 17-12, Draft started clawing its way back up the ladder. Solid kills from the Cougars’ Callie Updike and a number of net shots from the Indians, made it a tied game at 19. A few more net shots from Fort plus a kill from Draft’s Ariel Christy put Draft up by two. The score continued to go back-and-forth after that with Fort taking the lead, then Draft taking it back until a missed pass from Draft and a final kill from Fort’s Katie Dunsmore finished out Game 1.

Game 2 was completely kept in control by the Indians who went on an unanswered 11-point run, nine of the points coming from Cougar errors.

“In the second game they just served tough on us,” said Stuarts Draft coach Kami Meeteer. “We weren’t very consistent on serve-receives.”

Three concrete plays from Dunsmore, two blocks and a hard kill gave the Indians another win making it look like the match would be done in an easy sweep.

“Our serving was crucial in that Game 2,” said Fort Defiance coach Lynn Alexander. “They played like being first wasn’t a fluke.”

The Indians came out in Game 3 looking like a different team. The Cougars gained early control of the lead with the Indians not far behind, but able to make a comeback and tie it at eight then take the lead at nine. Draft wasn’t holding back though and quickly regained control. Errors from the Indians gave the Cougars an even wider lead. Though Fort was able to comeback and tie the game two more times, at 24 and 25, a Fort error plus a kill from Draft’s Chayla Burkholder gave the game to the Cougars.

“Draft put up a huge fight. They played with heart,” Alexander said. “We played extremely flat in the third game and Draft capitalized on it.”

Game 4 played out similar to the previous, but with the Indians taking early control this time. Draft never backed down and eventually came out to tie the game at 18 and taking the lead off another Burkholder kill. A serve into the net from the Cougars plus a quick ace from Fort’s Payton Hill gave the lead back to the Indians, but Burkholder was there to tie the game at 20 off another hard kill, keeping Draft in the game.

A net shot and a kill from Updike kept the game tied and that’s when the Indians took off. A block from Fort’s Anna Martinez combined with two bad shots from Draft put Fort up 24-21. Becca Houff was able to end the game with a soft tip that went unanswered.

“They worked for it,” Alexander said of her team. “I have 11 people on this team and everyone worked for it. I feel like I have six captains [all senior players].”

The Indians have a first round bye in the region.

“I’m just excited to be going to regionals,” Alexander said. “This is the third year going, but our first year with a bye. We can relax a little bit tomorrow and just have fun.”