Cassville Democrat: High School Sports: Ladycats throw down EN (09/23/10)

"Look Mom, no sleeves!"

Cassville's Jerry Schneider had a week to prepare for Thursday's home volleyball match with East Newton. After getting drilled by Carthage, Schneider was looking for a change in attitude on his young team.

When Cassville's varsity squad was introduced, they ran out wearing the "throwback" jerseys from years past -- the sleeveless tanks. The black on black tops and shorts, mixed with the bright gold socks, were quite a change from the traditional longsleeve look. But judging from the way the Ladycats played, they might be wearing them for a long time.

Cassville swept East Newton, 25-21 and 25-20 to improve to 3-2 on the season.

"It was a real good win," Schneider noted after the game.

Cassville played strong defense, limiting serve opportunities for the Lady Patriots and making some mini-runs on offense. The Ladycats ground out an 11-point lead in the first game, 22-11, thanks to timely serving by Brittany Clark and a gravity-defying block by Risa Darveaux.

Cassville had the serve, leading 24-17, but watched that lead dwindle as East Newton's Whitney Thomlinson caught fire with her serve. The Ladycats finally prevailed, 25-21.

In the second game, Cassville rode Darveaux's hot serving streak to an early 11-2 lead. The Lady Patriots chipped away, pulling within three at 18-15, but would get no closer. Cassville closed out the match with the 25-20 final.

Schneider called this "a battle between two evenly matched teams" and applauded his girls for being more aggressive and more efficient.

Darveaux and Rachel Sanders both had four kills for the Ladycats, while Emily Pry led in blocks with four. Riley Wilks chimed in with 12 assists.

The Ladycat JV squad also won in straight sets.

Cassville is scheduled to play in the Diamond Tournament this weekend.