Fall is here, it unofficially started at 4:30 Monday afternoon in Keota with the Eagles hosting their annual varsity volleyball tournament. The field included the home team and squads from Hillcrest Academy, Highland, Lone Tree, Tri-County and English Valleys. While the Trojans and Bears met in the title match, with Tri-County taking the championship, it was the Eagles on their home floor that posted the highest finish of any KCII area team, going 2-1 for third place. In pool play they topped Lone Tree and fell to Tri-County before bouncing back to beat Highland in three sets in the third place match. After the contest, head coach Debra Swantz spoke with KCII Sports about her highlights from the night. “Tonight, was more or less for me, just seeing where the girls were at and bringing them together. Cassandra Swantz had a lot of hustle, we also had some outstanding hitters too, Macie McDonald, she’s our right side and she was hitting behind and it was amazing. All the girls really. They just came together toward the end.”

Highland and Hillcrest Academy both finished 1-2 on the evening. The Huskies victory came in pool play over the Ravens before dropping a pool matchup to EV and then coming up short against Keota in the third place match. The Ravens fell to Highland and English Valleys in pool play, but took their fifth place match against Lone Tree in straight sets. The Lady Lions went winless on the night, dropping contests to Tri-County, Keota and the Ravens.