Pirates football defeats Diamond, Lady Pirates volleyball beat Central and Diamond

The Ash Grove High School football team traveled to Diamond on Friday, Sept. 25 and came home with a 22-19 victory.
 
After a scoreless first quarter by both teams, the Pirates scored twice in the second quarter. First on a 4-yard run from Blake Reece and then on a 3-yard run from Chase Acosta to take a 14-0 lead into halftime.
 
The Wildcats answered with two touchdowns of their own in the third quarter to make it a 14-13 Pirates lead. In the fourth quarter, Diamond scored on a 44-yard pass from Giancarlo Martinez to take their first lead of the game, 19-14. It wouldn’t last long though as, Jaden Shorter would hit Jaden Hance on 37-yard strike to give the Pirates back the lead, 20-19. After a two-point conversion, Ash Grove would make it 22-19, and that is the way the game would end.
 
Shorter was 3-6 passing for 66 yards and a touchdown, Reece had 98 yards on 10 carries with a score, Acosta got 80 yards on 18 carries with a touchdown and Hance ended the game with 37 yards and a touchdown.
 
The Pirates are now 4-1 on the season and will play against Class 1, third ranked Pierce City this Friday night. 
 
With the win, Ash Grove moved into second place in the Class 1, District 3 standings with 42.49 points. Miller leads the district with 42.76 points, followed by Ash Grove, Marionville (40.70 points), Pierce City (40.40 points) and Diamond (23.25 points).
 
Volleyball
 
The Lady Pirates volleyball team traveled to Strafford on Saturday, Sept. 26, playing four games, but falling in all four with very close scores.
 
Ash Grove lost to Springfield Catholic, 16-25, 20-25, Cabool, 20-25, 22-25, Osceola 19-25, 23-25 and Liberty Mountain View 11-25, 23-25.
 
Bristol Lathrop led with 20 kills and 14 blocks on the day, Michelle Harwood led with 27 digs and Millie Willmon added 26 digs and led with 28 assists.
 
"Saturday was a tough day on the scoreboard,” said head coach Hilary Nicholson. “But we were right there in a lot of those second sets. We saw some really good teams, and that kind of competition is going to make us better for districts."
 
On Thursday, Sept. 24, the Lady Pirates hosted Springfield Central and won in four sets, 17-25, 26-24, 25-21 and 25-19.
 
"We came out flat in the first set at Central,” said Nicholson. “But I loved how the girls responded. Winning that second set 26-24 flipped the match, and they played with a lot of confidence the rest of the night."
 
Ash Grove began their week by hosting Diamond, defeating the Lady Wildcats in four sets, 25-20, 25-17. 14-25 and 25-10.
 
Not counting the weekend tournament, Lathrop had 26 kills, Harwood added 18 and Hadley Dean and Collins Rust each kicked in 17 kills. Lathrop also had 18 blocks in the two games and six aces.
 
Willmon led with 39 assists, Nicholson added 35 and Samantha Schindler ended the two games with 15 assists. Willmon paced the team with 45 digs, Schindler added 40, Nicholson had 37 and Harwood ended the two games with 32 digs.
 
The Lady Pirates are 17-7-1 and were scheduled to host Marion C. Early on Monday, Marionville last night and Pierce City tomorrow night.