Yuma High School’s volleyball team likely will qualify for next week’s 36-team Class 2A regional field.
However, the Indians sure would not mind entering the postseason on a winning note.
They close out the regular season on Friday at Holyoke. They have won three of their last five, a win over rival Wray, and going 2-2 last Saturday in the Alliance Tournament.
That leaves the Indians 9-13 overall, 2-5 in Lower Platte Activities Association play, entering the regular season finale.
The regional field will be determined by the composite rankings of the Rating Percentage Index, the MaxPreps rankings and the coaches Top 10 poll. The Indians are not ranked in the Top 10, but thanks to their difficult schedule, they are No. 18 in 2A in the MaxPreps rankings. They are lower in the 2A RPI at No. 30.
Holyoke entered this week 16-5 overall, ranked No. 6 in the RPI, No. 4 in MaxPreps, and No. 6 in the Top 10. The Dragons likely will be hosting a regional next week.
“They have a super-dominant player, and then the rest relies on their supporting cast,” Yuma coach Jenny Noble said. “We’ve seen six or seven teams exactly like that, and we have had some success against a couple, but not the others.
Making it more difficult is that several varsity players were missing practice this week due to the National FFA Convention and illness.
“It’s an interesting week for us,” Noble said. “We’ve got our work cut out.”
Yuma had one its better showings earlier last week in the home finale against rival Wray. The raucous crowd again seem to bolster the Indians.
It was 8-8 in the first set when the Indians ran off six straight. Wray never got closer than four after that. Yuma scored the first eight points in the second set, and never was seriously threatened. The Eagles kept battling, though, leading multiple times in the third set, including 18-16. The Indians made sure there would not be a fourth set, though, by running off seven straight points.
Statistics were not available.
The Indians made the trip north to Alliance, Nebraska, Saturday. They went 2-2 in the tournament.
Yuma’s first match was a North Platte team that had won only four matches all season. The Indians took care of business, cruising to a 25-16, 25-20 win.
They then ran into a fairly-tough Alliance squad, falling in two sets, 11-25 and 15-25.
Yuma’s final pool play match was against Oelrichs out of South Dakota, which had won just two matches all season.
Noble mixed up the lineup a bit, putting players in different positions than normal, but the Indians still had no trouble cruising to a 25-9, 25-15 win, including scoring the final 11 points in the second set.
The teams were cross-bracketed after that, playing a team from the other pool. The Indians were matched up against the Sidney Red Raiders, who had handed the Tribe loss in The Pit earlier this week.
The Red Raiders did it again, as Yuma went down in straight sets, 17-25, 19-25.
Yuma’s statistics were not available for any of the matches.
