Month: October 2017

KCKCC gets eighth volleyball win in last 10 matches

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Kansas City Kansas Community College’s volleyball team continued its winning ways Wednesday, breezing to a 3-0 win at Allen County.

It was the Lady Blue Devils’ eighth win in their last 10 matches and boosted their Region VI record to 4-3 and overall mark to 12-8.

Allen County never threatened Wednesday as the Blue Devils cruised to 25-11, 25-25-11, 25-9 wins.

“We played very consistently,” KCKCC coach Mary Bruno said. “We set the tone early and dominated from start to finish.”

Sophomores Katie Heeter and Alissia Nevarez led offensively with nine kills while freshmen Brittney Winter and Randi Johnson added eight and seven. Heeter also led defensively with eight digs while freshmen Jaylie Thornton and Kelsey Rankin added five each.

The Blue Devils are now idle until next week when they take on four of the best teams in the nation starting with a Jayhawk Conference match Wednesday at No. 4 ranked Coffeyville. That will be followed Friday and Saturday by the Lincoln Land Invitational in Springfield, Ill., where the Blue Devils will take on No. 2 Parkland, No. 5 Lincoln Land, No. 16 Kirkwood and Waubonsee.

Houston defeats Sporting KC, 2-1

Sporting Kansas City stumbled to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of rivals Houston Dynamo on Wednesday night at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston.

Jimmy Medranda fired Sporting KC ahead with a sensational long-range effort in the 33rd minute, but Houston responded with a pair of goals in the second half to deny Sporting KC the point it needed to clinch a berth in the MLS Cup Playoffs.

Despite Wednesday’s loss, Sporting KC remains in second place in the Western Conference with two matches still to play – two points ahead of the fifth-place Dynamo, who will visit Children’s Mercy Park at 6:30 p.m. Sunday in the second of back-to-back matches between the teams.

Sporting KC’s regular-season home finale will air live on FOX Sports Kansas City and FOX Sports Midwest, and a limited number of tickets are available via SeatGeek.com.

Manager Peter Vermes made two changes to the Sporting KC lineup from Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Minnesota United FC. Diego Rubio made way for Daniel Salloi in attack, while goalkeeper Andrew Dykstra earned his first start for the club in place of the injured Tim Melia.

Houston extended its regular-season unbeaten run against Sporting KC to seven matches on Wednesday, but not before falling behind shortly after the hour-mark on a jaw-dropping strike from Medranda.

The 23-year-old Colombian received a cutback pass from Saad Abdul-Salaam and one-timed a 30-yard belter with the outside of his left boot, the ball bending away from Houston goalkeeper Tyler Deric and nestling low into the far left corner.

Dykstra was forced into action not long later, doing well to tip Tomas Martinez’s long-range blast over the woodwork. The Dynamo threatened again seven minutes before the break when Vicente Sanchez hammered Andrew Wenger’s delicious cross onto the frame of the crossbar.

Salloi came close to doubling Sporting KC’s lead on the cusp of intermission, latching onto the end of a loose ball in the box, but his shot lacked the direction to beat Deric.

Houston survived yet another scare in the 53rd minute when Roger Espinoza found Gerso with space on the right side of the box, but the ensuing attempt was palmed away by Deric.

Houston gained a foothold over the final 30 minutes, as Ricardo Clark and Mauro Manotas both volleyed narrowly high of frame in quick succession.

The hosts’ ascension ultimately drew them level in the 63rd minute when A.J. DeLaGarza’s cross from the right wing was cleared only as far as Martinez at the opposite post, and the Dynamo midfielder’s side volley beat Dykstra to restore parity.

Sporting KC fell behind in the 77th minute for the first time. Martinez’s in-swinging free kick was turned into the net by Erik Palmer-Brown for an unfortunate own goal, giving the Dynamo a 2-1 advantage they wouldn’t relinquish.

Vermes’ side had two opportunities to rescue a point in second-half stoppage time, but Seth Sinovic’s right-footed rocket was saved and Salloi’s strike from the top of the box glanced marginally over the bar.

– Story from Sporting KC

Mother charged with international parental kidnapping

A Russian-born woman was indicted in Wichita Wednesday on charges of international parental kidnapping, U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said.

Bogdana Alexandrovna Mobley, 37, is charged with one count of international parental kidnapping. Mobley was arrested Sept. 29 in Wichita after spending more than three years in Russia. Investigators believe her children are still in Russia.

According to court records, Mobley emigrated from Russia to the United States in 2003 and later became a naturalized U.S. citizen.

In March 2014, her second husband filed for divorce in Sedgwick County District Court.

While the case was pending and Mobley was pregnant with her third child, she fled to Russia with her two children – one born in 2004 when she was married for the first time and the other born in 2013 while she was married to her second husband. Her third child was born about two months after she returned to Russia.

In December 2014, a Sedgwick County judge granted full custody of the two younger children to Mobley’s ex-husband and ordered her to return them to him.

While she was in Russia with the children, she allowed her ex-husband to communicate with his children only by cell phone or Skype. In January 2015, he flew to meet her on the border of Poland and Russia but she did not allow him to see the children and she told him to give her money if he wanted to talk to them.

If convicted, she faces up to three years in federal prison and a fine up to $250,000 on the kidnapping charge. The FBI investigated. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jason Hart is prosecuting.