By CHARLES SPURLOCK
Special to TopSports.news
On Tuesday evening, three teams from the United Kansas Conference competed in a volleyball triangular hosted by Shawnee Heights.
The T-Birds dominated the action, sweeping Kansas City-Turner and Piper in straight sets.
Shawnee Heights senior Avery Willey goes up for a kill in Tuesday's UKC volleyball sweep over KC-Turner and Piper. [File photo/TSN]
In the opening match, Shawnee Heights played the Turner Bears.
Following an opening set where Shawnee Heights jumped out to an early lead and extended it throughout the set, the Thunderbirds jumped out to another early 7-0 lead in second set, thanks to three attacks from senior Avery Willey.
After Turner broke through on the scoreboard, Heights extended its lead to 12-1, causing the Bears to take their first timeout.
The T-birds only allowed four more points in the set, to finish the dominating sweep, 25-9, 25-5.
In the final match of the evening, Shawnee Heights played the Piper Pirates.
The start of the match saw the T-birds exhibit dominance at the net from senior Brooke McCabe and junior Brooklyn Hummer with blocks and attacks, giving Heights an early 6-0 lead.
Piper battled back and trailed just 8-7 when T-Bird coach Sami Kearney called the T-birds first timeout.
“We are a really good team, but sometimes we can sometimes play to our opponent,” Kearney said.
Following a 9-5 run by Heights, Piper called their final timeout, trailing 17-12. The teams traded points for the remainder of the set, with Shawnee Heights winning, 25-17.
The second set went back and forth with neither team having a lead larger than two points until Willey had a service winner, giving Heights the lead at 14-11.
Willey commented about her team’s start in both matches.
“I thought we started off slow, but we picked it up and found our rhythm,” she said.
Piper cut the lead to 16-15, but Heights scored the final nine points -- with eight coming from the serves of senior Addison Gonzalez -- to finish off the match, 25-15.
Shawnee Heights will be back in action on Thursday night, hosting a triangular with Washburn Rural and Blue Valley Northwest.
Match results
Shawnee Heights defeated KC-Turner, 25-9, 25-5; Piper defeated KC-Turner, 25-13, 25-14; Shawnee Heights defeated Piper, 25-17, 25-15
