Sports writer
The Goessel High School girls’ volleyball team fought hard Friday, but lost three matches in pool play at the 1A state tournament in Hays.
The Bluebirds lost to Pratt-Skyline, St. John-Hudson, and Frankfort. The season ended with 30 wins and 12 losses, while three players finished their high school careers.
Rinda Duerksen, Amy Brubaker, and Kristen Unruh will remember their final season with a trip to the “Big Dance” at Fort Hays State University.
In the first game of pool play, the Bluebirds scratched out a lead at 6-5 but saw Pratt take a lead by five points, 14-9.
GHS got as close as 19-17 before Pratt finished the first game 25-18.
Goessel took another early lead in game two and then exploded to a 12-4 advantage to even the match with a 25-14 victory.
In the deciding third game the Bluebirds stayed close as they trailed 6-4, but before they knew it, Pratt had jumped out to a 15-5 lead and the Bluebirds lost the game and the match, 25-13.
Against the eventual state championship team from St. John, Goessel trailed by three points, only to see St. John finish the game with a 6-3 run.
In game two the Bluebirds never got started, falling behind 11-4 and losing by a final 25-10.
In the third match of the evening, Goessel trailed Frankfort early 7-4 and kept the three-point deficit for much of the game, eventually losing by a final score of 25-20.
Hoping to win one more match at the tournament, Goessel trailed 13-11, but then “the wheels came off” for the Bluebirds as Frankfort ended the match with 12-2 run.
The Bluebirds will relish their victories at the regional and sub-state tournaments, as probably being the best volleyball matches of the season.