Dunavant, Taylor shine as Rogersville downs Ozark in straight sets

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By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)

Rogersville, Mo. — A week after beating both Kickapoo and Willard, Rogersville passed yet another early-season test on Tuesday.

Behind an aggressive service game and stout defensive play, the Lady Wildcats downed visiting Ozark in straight sets, 25-21 and 25-23.

Birdie Hendrickson and Samantha Thompson keyed the Rogersville offense. The junior Hendrickson finished the match with 12 kills, while the sophomore Thompson notched 23 assists and eight digs.

Key momentum swings in both sets allowed Rogersville to capture and maintain control of the match.

Nursing a slim, 13-12 lead in the first set, the Lady Wildcats finally found some breathing room on the strength of Sydney Dunavant’s service game.

The senior libero’s aggressive attack from the line helped Rogersville rip off five-straight points, which included two kills from senior Maci McHenry.

Lady Wildcat head coach Tammy Miller praised Dunavant’s performance.

“Sydney did a great job,” Miller said. “She was a little frustrated yesterday in practice, but I thought she came ready to play today. I don’t feel like they could pick on her, she was aggressive and served extremely well.”

Down 22-18 late in the first set, Ozark mounted a comeback.

A pair of kills from senior Julia McCown helped bring the Lady Tigers within one at 22-21 before Rogersville turned back the rally with back-to-back kills from Hendrickson and senior Allie Gipson.

An error gave Rogersville the 25-21 victory in the first set.

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE GAME

Miller stressed the importance of matchups at the net to help neutralize Ozark’s imposing front line including McCown and senior Katie Vorhies.

“We talked about matching up our hitters versus their blockers,” Miller said. “I think Julia [McCown] does an amazing job; we tried to keep the ball away from her and not put it in her hands.”

A serving ace from senior Kennedee Anderson helped Ozark jump out to an early 3-0 lead in the second set before a trio of miscues allowed Rogersville to stem the rally.

Neither team was able to hold more than a two-point lead throughout most of the set.

A pair of kills from Hendrickson finally gave Rogersville a three-point advantage at 20-17, but Ozark was able to mount yet another late rally to tie the score at 22.

Despite the comeback, the Lady Wildcats didn’t blink.

Junior Claire Taylor notched a pair of kills in the final series to propel Rogersville to the 25-23 win and close out the straight-set victory.

“I was so proud of [Taylor],” Miller said. “She looked a little frazzled at one point because they were serving at our left-back kids. It caused us a little bit of frustration and caused us to get out of what we like to do, but I was so proud of her. She got the last two big kills for us.”

Miller praised her team’s resilient nature with the deciding set up for grabs.

“At the end, when they took a little run at us, I wasn’t quite sure how we were going to handle it,” Miller said. “I thought, at that point, my kids maintained good composure.”

One of the calming voices for Rogersville’s big finish belonged to Dunavant.

“These girls I play with are really good at keeping their composure,” Dunavant said. “I just told them that we’re fine and that we’ve got this. [Ozark] is a good team, but we did what we needed to do.”

For Ozark and head coach Adeana Brewer, this season marks another slow start out of the blocks. For the second year in a row, the Lady Tigers have dropped early matches to both Kickapoo and Rogersville.

Brewer attributes some of the inconsistent play to chemistry issues.

“I did see improvements in our chemistry and in our unity, but we’re still not on the same page,” Brewer said. “We’re just getting some players back from injuries and healthy from sickness, so we haven’t had a lot of practices with everyone together.”

Brewer also noted her team’s difficulty dealing with a host of early-season pressures ranging from state rankings, individual expectations, hostile environments and premier matchups — all factors a team must overcome in order to reach its potential.

“This team is letting all those external factors break and shake them up a lot,” Brewer said. “Until we can control those external factors, we’re going to struggle in positions like this.”

Anderson led Ozark with 21 assists, while Vorhies tallied seven kills. Senior libero Holly Luginbill finished with 14 digs in the match.

Up next for Rogersville (4-1) is a Thursday, Sep. 13, home game against Branson. Ozark (7-2) hosts Branson on Tuesday, Sep. 18.

Varsity final: Rogersville – 2, Ozark – 0 (25-21, 25-23)

JV final: Ozark – 2, Rogersville – 1 (25-16, 21-25, 25-11)
Frosh final: Rogersville – 2, Ozark – 1 (28-26, 24-26, 25-13)

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