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Despite injured leg, KCKCC’s Riley 4th in Tabor tourney

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Even on one leg, Kansas City Kansas Community College’s Cameron Riley played better than nearly the entire field in the Tabor College Fall Golf Invitational.

A sophomore from Liberal, Riley finished fourth in the Blue Devils’ final tournament of the fall season played at Sand Creek Station in Newton Monday and Tuesday.

“Cam injured his left leg on the 17th hole Monday and limped around Tuesday like Chester on Gunsmoke,” KCKCC coach Gary Shrader said. “He couldn’t put any weight on his left leg and still shot 73. It was amazing. Had it not been the final meet of the season, I would probably have recommended he set it out.”

Riley’s 75-73-148 trailed three golfers from tourney champion Indian Hills, two of whom finished under par. Harry Doig and Harry Fearn each fired 2-under par 142’s with Cyril Henault one shot ahead of Riley at 147..

No other golfer in the field of 50 finished better than 151, three shots back of Riley, who was sixth after Monday’s round.

“It was real windy so being from Liberal, it was right up Cam’s alley,” Shrader said.

The medalist in the season opening Swedes Invitational hosted by Bethany College in Salina, Riley finished in the Top Five in four of KCKCC’s six fall tournaments – all of which had a bevy of Blue Devil followers.

“The support we had from parents, grandparents and fans this fall was outstanding,” Shrader said.

Trailing Tabor by two shots (335-337) after Monday’s 18 holes, the Blue Devils knocked nine shots off their opening round for a 337-328-665 finish that vaulted them past Tabor into seventh place but left them a shot back of sixth place Sterling.

Keegan Ellington (84-81-165) of Andover Central finished in a tie for 28th for KCKCC while Mark Towey (84-84-168) of Bishop Carroll finished 32nd, Dylan Freund (89-86-175) of Cheney 40th, Jacob Hall (81-85-176) of Tonganoxie 41st and Kellen Welsh of Olathe West (89-89-178) 44th. All are freshmen.

Indian Hills (585) breezed to the team title followed by Iowa Western (614), Bethany College (628), Lawrence Tech (645), Bethany B (656), Hesston (657), Sterling 664), KCKCC (665) and Tabor (677).

Lady Blue Devils fall 3-0 at No. 5 ranked Fort Scott

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

Fort Scott lived up to its No. 5 national volleyball ranking with a 3-0 sweep of Kansas City Kansas Community College Monday.

“It’s the best Fort Scott team we’ve faced in my 11 years in our program,” KCKCC coach Mary Bruno-Ballou said. “They have some of the best outside hitters as a group as we’ve seen all year.”

The loss left the Lady Blue Devils 14-11 overall and 3-5 in the Jayhawk Conference but still firmly in control of a playoff berth with two games to go – at Highland next Wednesday and then the home finale against Hesston Oct. 30. Up next, however, is the Lincoln Land Tournament in Springfield, Illinois, Friday and Saturday.

Fort Scott posted 25-20, 25-18 and 25-17 wins in boosting its record to 26-4 overall and 7-1 in the Jayhawk Conference. No. 2 ranked Coffeyville (7-0) leads the conference followed by Fort Scott, Cowley (5-1), Johnson County (5-2), Cloud (4-3), Highland (3-3), Allen County (3-4), KCKCC (3-5), Labette (0-5), Hesston (0-6) and Neosho County (0-7).

A trio of sophomores led KCKCC at Fort Scott. Tara Mattingly had 13 kills and seven digs; Gracie Golay dealt out 18 assists and Amilex Lopez had 19 digs.

“Tara Mattingly played excellent on the outside and continues to grow as an athlete and as a force to be reckoned with,” Bruno-Ballou said. “Amilex Lopex passed well in addition to 19 digs and blocking wise, Lauren Leavendusky and Malaysia StClair did a very good job of stopping their outside attack.”

Fort Scott used strong finishes in each of the three sets to pull away.

“We played well and gave ourselves opportunities,” Bruno-Ballou said. “Each game we were ahead, tied or within a point or two and got stuck in rotation and could not get out of it. It comes down to our execution. We must be able to first ball side out better.”

KCKCC women sweep JCCC first time; clinch first playoff berth

A free kick by KCKCC freshman Kayley Pedersen was perfect as it just cleared a leaping Johnson County goalkeeper Isabelle Joseph. The goal was KCKCC’s first in a 2-0 win Friday. (KCKCC photo by Alan Hoskins)

by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC

For the first time in the 8-year history of women’s soccer, Kansas City Kansas Community College is headed to the NJCAA DI women’s soccer playoff berths – thanks to yet another milestone win.

A 2-0 win Friday cemented the Blue Devils’ first ever sweep of arch-rival Johnson County and assured the playoff berth with two games still to go – at Allen County Wednesday and a season-ending home clash with Coffeyville Sunday afternoon, Oct. 20.

Still on the line is clinching a home playoff berth and an outside chance of overtaking league-leading Cowley College,

A sweep of the final two games and two Cowley losses in the Tigers’ final three games would vault KCKCC into a tie for the Jayhawk Conference championship. Cowley (8-1) leads the league followed by KCKCC (7-3), Butler County (5-3-1), Coffeyville (5-4), Johnson County (5-5), Neosho County (1-6-1) and Allen County (0-9).

The Blue Devils did all their scoring against JCCC in the final five minutes of the first half. Freshman Kayley Pedersen of Shawnee Mission West scored on a free kick from outside the box on a shot that just cleared a leaping JCCC goalkeeper Isabelle Joseph with 4:12 left and freshman Madison Broeker of Lincoln, Nebraska, followed with a breakaway goal with 1:06 remaining in the half.

“We played well,” said KCKCC assistant coach Sara Matthews, who has taken the coaching reins while head coach Shawn Uhlenhake recovers from major surgery. “Kayley Pedersen not only scored but shut down a lot of JCCC’s attack before it got to the back line and was able to play balls through to our forwards. Maddy Broeker also provided a lot of energy to the front line and Tina Alvarez stepped up to provide quality minutes in the midfield.”

KCKCC got a stellar effort from goalkeeper Jaidyn Takaishi and the Blue Devil defensive back line of Paige Liston, Sydney Guerra, Katrina Sargent and Alex Schemmel. A freshman from Olathe North, Takaishi had six saves on 10 Cavalier shots. Meanwhile, the Blue Devils got off 14 shots against two JCCC goalkeepers.

“I am so very proud of this group,” Matthews said. “Our young program’s goal over the last couple of years has been to make the playoffs for the first time. But we can’t lose focus on our preparation every day. This season is not over. We have a chance to host a playoff game so we need to keep our sights on one day at a time.”

Ranked No. 17 in the United Soccer Coaches national rankings, the Blue Devils boosted their overall record to 10-3.

“What’s important now is how we go out and earn our successes,” Matthews said. “The season is a grind for every team and while we’ve had our ups and downs, we have shown the competitive heart to win close games. We’ve become a force to be reckoned with and we can’t wait to grow the program even more.”