The Kosciusko volleyball season ended with a 25-7, 25-10, 25-20 loss to Corinth in the opening round of the MHSAA 4A playoffs last Tuesday.After struggling through the first two-and-a-half sets, Kosciusko found its footing late in the final set. Down 22-11, the Lady Whippets reeled off nine straight points to pull within 22-20 before Corinth closed out the match with three points. Eight of those points came with eighth grader Mary Kimble Price serving. Coach Nikki Stephenson said she is the team’s best server.Stephenson said nerves might have been a factor in the slow start, but being off for two weeks while the school was closed was a bigger factor. There was only one day for practice prior to the match after classes resumed.“They didn’t have time to do their serves and things like that they usually do. With everything going on, them being out of school and not in a rhythm, that threw them off a bit.” But she added “They (Corinth) are a good team, and so are we.”Corinth ran off the final eight points of the first set, with Katie Nakagawa serving the final seven. She then served the first seven punts of the second set as Corinth jumped out to a 6-0 lead. Kosciusko rallied within 7-5 before Corinth pulled away.The Lady Whippets’ only leads came early in the final set at 1-0, 2-1 and 4-3. It was tied at 5-5 before Corinth went on a 17-6 run.This is the second year for volleyball at Kosciusko, and Stephenson’s first year as coach. Corinth has been playing the sport for more than a decade.Kosciusko won region 4-4A with a 4-0 record, posting two wins each against Louisville and Yazoo City. Corinth was second in 1-4A.“I’m very proud of them,” Stephenson said. “They had one coach their first year and one coach their second year. They adapted to me pretty well. They’re hard workers and I think we have some athletes.”Stephenson said she will ask the administration for a junior high program “so I can start with a younger group and watch them grow.”There were three seniors on the team — Emma Rush, Kelly Hood and Lauren Nowell. “I’m going to regroup and consider what I’m going to do without my three seniors.”Stephenson would like to have some of her players attend volleyball camps next summer, if any camps are open. There are several in Mississippi, including camps at Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Southern Mississippi run by volleyball staffs. But they were not held this year due to the pandemic.Kent Nitta, director of volleyball operations at the University of Mississippi, said Ole Miss hopes to have camps next summer. “If it (the virus) is under control, we will do it, probably in July. We work on fundamentals initially. Then later on in the camps we will get six on six.”He said a decision will be necessary in the spring in order to market the camp in a timely fashion. “Then it will be on our website.”
