Parsons falls to Erie, loses two at Iola Tournament

ERIE — Erie, Parsons and Jayhawk-Linn each left Thursday night’s triangular matchup in Erie with one win and one loss.

After losing the first match of the night to Jayhawk-Linn 2-0 (27-25, 25-19), Erie defeated Parsons in three sets 2-1 (25-23, 11-25, 25-21).

In its other match, Parsons defeated Jayhawk-Linn 2-0 (25-23, 25-20).

Erie takes big lead over Jayhawk-Linn

In the first game of Thursday’s match, Erie led 22-15 in the first set before allowing the Jayhawks to come back and win.

“We just have to learn to finish,” Erie head coach Sindy Daniels said. “We had the same thing happen to us at Baxter. We were way ahead and they came back and won in three sets. It’s tough for us to finish the match. I don’t know if we’re out of steam. But we’ve got to fix that.”

Makenzie LaRue scored six points for the Red Devils, while Kylie Hodgden and Jacksen Powell each had three points.

Coming off their first win of the year, the Vikings appeared dominant for most of the match against Jayhawk-Linn, but both set wins required six-point comebacks.

“One thing I’ve noticed is we’re a team that doesn’t give up,” Parsons head coach Dara Barr-Miller said. “I like to see that we have that grit. It makes me happy to see that.”

Ayanna Robertson led the Vikings with six points, while Chassis Baker added five. Robertson also recorded three blocks.

Red Devils beat Parsons in three sets

Erie defeated the Vikings in a thrilling match, winning the first and third sets, not to mention the second set, which Parsons won by 14 points.

“When I look at my board from the sideline, we couldn’t get the ball down,” Barr-Miller said. “We just have to get the ball away. When we don’t do that, we don’t win easily. We can’t go back and forth. Our defense was solid, but we have to take over.”

Erie had to withstand a late comeback by Parsons in the third set to secure the victory.

“I took a late timeout and told the girls we were up so we needed to finish,” Daniels said. “Our girls responded really well. We’ve had a lot of turnovers this year. We’ve had three seniors out. Now we’re just trying to find ourselves again.”

LaRue had a dozen kills in the match, while Rylee Palser had five for Erie. The Red Devils did well to put up a solid block that prevented the Vikings from getting shots.

“I was proud of how we did it,” Daniels said. “We made a mistake on the block against Jayhawk-Linn. Coming back and starting to do the little things right kept us in the game.”

Braelyn Hinman-Mitchell led the Vikings with 12 points against Erie, with Baker and Robertson adding six more.

“I noticed in the first set against Erie that our passing was a little off,” Barr-Miller said. “We went on a 5-1 run and we just started a new offense tonight. I made an adjustment where Saylah was going to start. That was an adjustment for us tonight. So we’re still working out a few kinks.”

Erie started the season with a 4-5 record.

“I’m disappointed with our start and so are the kids,” Daniels said. “I saw the spark in the summer. Now we’re starting to get some fire going. Hopefully we can keep building.”

Parsons competes in Iola tournament

The Vikings travel to Iola for a tournament on Saturday. Parsons narrowly missed pool play, beating Coffeyville 2-0 (25-11, 25-12) but lost to Anderson County 2-1 (19-25, 25-22, 29-27) and to host Iola 2-1 (23-25, 25-18, 25-21) in three sets.

Those games brought Parsons’ record to 2-6 at the start of the season.

“I didn’t think we’d be here with the wins and losses we’ve had,” Barr-Miller said. “But I see it. It’s right there. We’ve got some young players on our team and once we get the right combination, we’ll start picking up the wins.”