On Saturday, the Misssissinewa Indians took home second place honors in their third tournament of the season. They defeated Rossville, Faith Christian, and Maconaquah in two sets before falling to North Miami in three sets in the championship round.
Though she was proud of her team played once again, Coons admitted she was a little disappointed that they couldn’t pull out a win in the championship round.
“I believe that North Miami was a team that we could have beaten at the end, but it was just a matter of a couple of plays here and there that would make the difference,” Coons said. “They did play well, we just didn’t finish the way we wanted too because we did feel like, overall, our team was better.”
Throughout all of the Saturday tournaments this season, the Indians have shown incredible mental fortitude, staying focused and driven throughout all of the long days and multiple matches.
“We are excited and happy with the effort they are putting in,” Coons said. “Tournaments are tough. [You need] a lot of mental toughness [on] Saturdays, and they have showed up, which has been huge, especially in the Maconaquah game. We were down in the second set, and they fought back from a five point deficit when Maconaquah already had 22 points. They are showing that toughness, and that is something that we are really proud of.”
Heading into next week’s match against Alexandria, Coons knows that her team needs to score points on every chance they get.
“The focus is going to be to continue to control what we can on our side of the net,” Coons said. “[We need] to take care of those opportunities when they are given. [Alexandria] is going to score points, they have Megan Miller, so they are going to score points, but if we can just continue to make the most of the opportunities we get, I think we will be in a really good spot.”
