OP ends Forest Park’s nine-year streak as district volleyball champions

The tears fell out of anger and disappointment rather than pain. Kellie Goss knew the second her left ankle rolled across teammate Emily Stewart’s foot that she wouldn’t return to the volleyball court Thursday night.

She’d gone up for a block attempt on the opening play of game two the way she has thousands of times without incident during a career that has earned her national acclaim and a Division I col-lege scholarship to Ole Miss. Only this time, Forest Park’s senior middle hitter crumbled to the floor — her ankle no longer able to support her 6-foot-2 frame.

“I remember the ball of my ankle touching the floor and then this excruciating pain,” Goss said. “I just knew I couldn’t play after that so I was really angry.
“I’ve never been hurt, ever in my life, and it just so happens that I landed on it now of all nights.”

The Bruins’ streak of nine consecutive Cardinal District Tournament championships essentially ended once their leading offensive weapon limped off the floor. Goss sat on the bench with her injured ankle propped on the lap of assistant coach Alix Grimm and watched helplessly as rival Osbourn Park claimed the trophy with a 25-21, 16-25, 25-14, 25-15 victory at Freedom High School.

“I didn’t want to win that way, but we’ll take it and we’ll take the trophy home,” OP’s first-year head coach Michele Blue said. “I hope that she gets better so that we can see her in the regional finals, but we’ve beaten them before in three games with Kellie on the court.

“It’s just a different mindset, which is why I think we dropped that second game. We weren’t really sure what to do without Kellie there.”

The Bruins (21-2) weren’t sure, either. But replacing the best public school player in the area isn’t something that can be done on short notice.

Despite the best efforts of Colleen Childress, Amy Cunningham and Megan White, Forest Park wasn’t the same team with Goss on the sideline and against a team with as much depth as OP, there was simply no way to compensate.

The Yellow Jackets, seizing an unexpected opportunity, easily avenged Monday’s sweep in the district’s regular season tiebreaker match and claimed the tournament title in their first season in the Cardinal District since 2000.

And now they are bound for regionals with a sensational back row, led by libero Alyssa Sanchez, and powerful front row that features Tori Price, Andrea Testerman, Ariquel Payne and Samantha Schambach.

With their 20th victory, the Jackets are on the verge of returning to the Group AAA state quarter-finals for the third time since 2005 when they were at the height of their power in the Cedar Run District — a celebrated era that featured the program’s first statewide No. 1 ranking as well as a school-record 24-win campaign.

“Over in the Cedar Run District we were always in the running and Forest Park always ran away with this district, so to be over here and be able to challenge them is a good thing,” Blue said. “It’s helped us and it’s helped them.”

Facing the Yellow Jackets (20-3) brought out the best in Forest Park, which bounced back from a Sept. 24 loss at OP to win 14 consecutive matches prior to Goss’ injury.

On Tuesday, in the opening round of the Northwest Region Tournament, the Bruins will attempt to regain some of their swagger during a home match against Franklin County.

“I’m definitely coming back on Tuesday,” Goss said. “I tried to get my mom to let me play [Thursday] but she wouldn’t let me.”

Osbourn Park travels to Roanoke on Tuesday for a regional quarterfinal match at Patrick Henry, the site of their season-opening victory.

“We’ll go back and look at the film again to remind ourselves because it was our very first match of the year and it seems like forever ago,” Blue said. “But I do feel like we have the talent and the firepower to keep going.”