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When the Basehor-Linwood volleyball team has entered tournaments over the past few seasons, the Lady Bobcats have started their day slowly before coming on at the end.

But last Saturday at the DeSoto Spikefest, BLHS reversed the trend and won early. Problem was, Basehor-Linwood's play fell off as the day progressed. The Lady Cats had plans to place in the tournament but B-L went 2-2 in pool play and failed to advance.

"I really expected to make it into the tournament," said B-L head coach Kevin Suther. "We really came to play, though. We were on fire those first two matches. But as the day went along we eventually got worse."

Basehor-Linwood, now 12-16 on the season, opened pool play by defeating Maranatha Academy, 15-0, 15-8, and DeSoto, 15-2, 15-7. All BLHS had to do was win one of their next two matches to be assured of advancing to the tournament portion of the meet.

The Lady Cats, though, couldn't come through, losing to Tonganoxie, a team B-L had already defeated during the season, 17-15, 15-11. They closed out the day with a 15-4, 15-5 loss to Baldwin.

"I think the big turning point was our first game against Tonganoxie. It gradually started to go downhill from there," Suther said of B-L's day.

Emily Hoffman had perhaps the finest day of her career, scoring 31 service points and putting down 15 kills.

"I think this was a coming out for Emily. She had some excellent hits today. She was putting three or four down in a row at times," Suther said. "She has really stepped up her game which is good to see at this time of the year. Christina (McCarty) has always been a strong force for us, but we need people to support her."

McCarty put down 28 kills in the four matches and had 18 service points, while Briana Barron contributed 19 service points. Cristen Burnett led the team in assists with 47.

Poor showing for

B-L at SFT quad

A night that started with the hopes of sweeping three matches in a quad at Santa Fe Trail turned into disappointment for Basehor-Linwood as the Lady Cats won one match on Oct. 3.

BLHS traveled to Carbondale for matches against SFT, Piper and Sumner Academy, but the Lady Bobcats were only able to defeat Piper.

"It was a disappointment simply because we had an opportunity to come away with three wins," said Suther. "Throughout the night, we seemed to lack enthusiasm and a desire to play."

The Lady Cats opened the night with a 15-12, 15-9 win over Piper. In game one, the Lady Pirates had a 10-5 lead before BLHS scored 10 of the next 12 points. In game two, Basehor-Linwood jumped out to an 11-4 advantage before finally putting Piper away.

"Both teams did not look sharp. Piper probably had a few more hitting errors than we did and that's why we won," Suther said.

Up next was Basehor-Linwood's match against Santa Fe Trail. The Lady Chargers played inspired volleyball and knocked off the Lady Bobcats, 15-10, 15-3.

"They are still Trail. They are still a solid team," said Suther. "They are a very enthusiastic team that expects to win."

Basehor-Linwood ended the evening with a 15-12, 11-15, 15-12 loss to Sumner Academy.

"That was completely disappointing," Suther said about his team's play against the Sabres. "It's the worst I've seen us play all year. There's not much to say about it."

McCarty led Basehor-Linwood with 20 service points and 19 kills during the evening. Barron chipped in 17 points and Hoffman had 15. Burnett dished out 39 assists.

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