Facing off against the undefeated, No. 1 Cowley Tigers at home, the Neosho County Panthers got swept, 3-0, on Wednesday night.
The loss dropped Neosho County’s record to 4-14 overall and 2-4 in KJCCC play in what has been a season that hasn’t lived up to lofty preseason expectations.
“In the first and second set, we played with them,” Neosho County head coach Lisiane Matsdorff said. “We’re working hard. There’s just been so many situations that have come up this year. With our experience on the court — we have so many freshmen — our record doesn’t reflect the progress on the court.”
Despite enduring a heavy dose of speed and hard swings from the reigning national champions, Matsdorff saw progress from her roster.
“Our passing improved tonight,” Matsdorff said. “They were moving their feet on the block. We’ll keep working. We still have all of October to play. We have to have hope in our confidence. We have confidence that our girls can grow and compete.”
With a month left in the regular season, Matsdorff reflected on the Panthers’ rigorous schedule — Neosho County has only faced two JVs and that was the first date of the year — as a catalyst for the slide in the first half.
“Our schedule was really rough and you can put that on me,” Matsdorff said. “I put together our schedule thinking about the team I had last season — we had an All-American and a lot of sophomores. This year, it changed. There’s a huge amount of freshmen. So it’s been a tough schedule.”
Up next
Neosho County heads to Columbus, Nebraska this weekend to face four schools — North Dakota SCS, Southeast, North Platte and Northeast — before returning to KJCCC play on Oct. 9 with a trip to Fort Scott.
The Panthers will need at least a pair of conference wins, if not more, over the last month to earn a postseason berth.
“I’m never losing hope,” Matsdorff said. “Confidence is like a tournament. It’s a bracket. If you lose, you’re out. We know the team we have. Who knows what we can do? I want to see if we can surprise some teams.”
