Lady Rams drop Oran in two sets

SCOTT CITY -- It was an improvement as soon as a serve from Oran's Cheyanne King fell to Scott City's side of the floor.

Oran had scored a point. Something that didn't happen in the first set against the Scott City Lady Rams last season as Scott City's Katie Hogan served a perfect 25-0 win over the Lady Eagles.

"In the very first set, when we scored a point, the first point actually, I turned around and told our girl that was doing our book 'it's better than last year,'" Oran head coach Sara Heisserer said. "It couldn't have gotten any worse than last year."

Although Oran had scored their point the outcome was still the same as Scott City's front row ravaged the visitors 25-8 and 25-12 at Scott City High School.

Most of the havoc created by the Lady Rams started up front with the sheer size of Hogan, Whitney Froman, Danielle Gibbons and Mikah Simpson.

Sometimes for Scott City, the front row stands at a minimum of 5-feet, 9-inches tall with Hogan towering above everyone at 6-2.

"We have a pretty strong front row in any rotation," Scott City head coach Haley Jennings said. "(Hogan) is just a beast up there, Mikah is the same way when she's on the front row.

"That's one good thing about out team this year is that we have a very strong front row at any given time."

The hitting and blocking advantage possessed by the Lady Rams (10-2-1) could simply not be matched by Oran. An early 3-2 Lady Eagles lead was quickly erased after a kill by Scott City's Sydney Short made it 4-3. Scott City went on to win the first set 25-8 which included six-straight serving points from Hogan.

"Mentally, we had it in our head that 'Oh God, we have to play Scott City'," Heisserer said about playing the Class 2 defending state champions. "Our two freshman were scared to death already so, of course, coming in scared isn't a good thing.

"Mentally, they just had it in their heads and we were doomed from the beginning."

Having to hit over the likes of Hogan, Gibbons and Froman was a challenge in itself.

"I told them we were going to have to have blocks and our hitters are going to have to cover and be prepared to be blocked," Heisserer said.

"Our defense is picking up," added Jennings. "We're starting to show progression in reading the ball and reading the other team and reading their hitters."

Scott City began the second set with three-straight points and never looked back. A 9-2 run towards the middle of the set gave Scott City a 20-9 lead. The match ended like a lot of points ended; with a Hogan kill.

"We were real vocal," Jennings said. "It was good to see that we stayed up and stayed positive throughout the entire game. I was very pleased with their performance."

Hogan led Scott City with seven kills and also added eight digs. Simpson and Mallory Reddick each added 12 digs while Gibbons contributed six digs and four kills.

Andie Gray and Sydney Short added 10 and eight assists respectively.

Scott City will travel to Sikeston on Thursday night to take on the Lady Bulldogs while Oran (2-3-2) goes to Woodland on Friday.