by Brian Turrel
The Sumner Lady Sabres volleyball team lost in the 5A sub-state finals to defending state champions Lansing, but officials, coaches and fans came away from the game impressed with the Sumner spirit.
The Lady Lions romped through the final’s first set, powering to a 25-8 advantage and looking for an easy second set to send them on their way to the state tournament. What they got from Sumner was something completely different.
The Lady Sabres opened up an early second-set lead with never-say-die defense from libero Sui Par and high-flying kills from hitters Anabelle Cacho and Kylie McCleary. When the Sumner lead reached 8-4, Lansing called a timeout to pull the team together.
The break got the Lady Lions back on track, and they pulled even at 9-9, with their powerful outside hitters getting into the action. Sumner head coach Caylie Yessa called a timeout, and her team responded with another run, powered by a service streak from sophomore setter Keneth Rodriguez-Acosta, Sumner’s leader in aces.
The Lady Sabres pulled away to a 16-11 lead, forcing another Lansing timeout. The Lady Lions began to chip away at the lead and pulled even at 20. Sumner kept fighting for every last point, even denying Lansing’s match point service at 24-21, but Lansing closed out the set and match at 25-22.
After the game, Yessa praised the leadership of her senior class.
“We have four seniors on the team,” said the coach, “and Anabelle [Cacho] and Kylie [McCleary] are our outsides. They worked their four years being on our program, and they really came together and pulled the team together as co-captains and led our team to a conference championship and our first win at sub-state.”
Sumner defeated familiar foe Washington in the first round of sub-state competition, winning in two sets (25-11, 25-15), while Lansing had a similarly easy time against Basehor-Linwood (25-10, 25-14) in its first-round game.
The Sumner Lady Sabres finished the season with a 23-11 record, earning the Meadowlark Conference championship with a perfect 12-0 conference record.
