Pirates football shut out against state-ranked Miller on homecoming

The Ash Grove High School football team hosted Class 2, sixth-ranked Miller on Friday, Sept. 18 and lost to the Cardinals 40-0 on homecoming.
 
Miller scored 14 points in the first quarter and six points in the second quarter to lead 20-0 at the half. In the third quarter, the Cardinals added six more points and then closed out the scoring with 14 points in the fourth quarter.
 
Chase Acosta was 7-15 for 41 yards passing and had 32 yards on the ground on 21 carries. Blake Reece added 28 yards rushing on seven carries in the game.
 
Before the game, a homecoming queen and princess were named. Millison Sapp won the honor of queen while Alivia Duit took home the princess crown.
 
The Pirates are 3-1 on the season and will travel to Diamond this Friday. With the loss, Ash Grove dropped to third in the Class 1, District 3 standings with 42.92 points. Pierce City leads the district with 45.92 points, followed by Miller (43.2 points), Ash Grove, Marionville (36.42 points) and Diamond (23.67 points).
 
Volleyball
 
In volleyball, the Lady Pirates traveled to Buffalo on Saturday, Sept. 19 to take part in the Lady Bison Invitational and came home with a third-place finish.
 
Ash Grove was 2-1-1 in pool play, beating Buffalo and Gloria Deo but lost to Stockton and split with Springfield Central. The Lady Pirates defeated El Dorado Springs in the first round of bracket play but lost to Lighthouse Christian Academy in the semifinals. Ash Grove was able to bounce back to knock off Stockton in the third-place game.
 
In seven games, the Lady Pirates had a total of 133 kills, 119 assists, 34 aces and 16 blocks. Bristol Lathrop led with 51 kills, Hadley Dean had 22 kills, Collins Trust added 17 kills, and 10 aces and Lili Porter had 16 kills. Millie Willmon led with 59 assists and Allie Nicholson added 47 assists in the tournament.
 
"Saturday told me a lot about this team,” said head coach Hilary Nicholson. “Losing to Stockton in pool play and then coming back to beat them for third place is exactly the kind of response we have been building toward. They do not hang their heads; they fix what went wrong and they keep competing."
 
On Thursday, Sept. 17, the Lady Pirates traveled to Lockwood and defeated the Lady Tigers in four sets, 25-23, 25-23, 20-25 and 25-21.
 
Lathrop led with 15 kills and Dean added 10, Willmon was the leader with 18 assists, while Nicholson added 13 and Nicholson and Kameron Bell both led with 10 digs in the game.
 
"Winning three sets at Lockwood by two or three points each is the kind of night that grows a team up,” said Nicholson. “Bristol and Hadley were tough to stop at the net, and our block showed up in a big way."
 
Ash Grove started their week by hosting Round Rock Christian Academy on Monday, Sept. 14 and winning in three sets.
 
Nicholson led with 18 assists, Willmon added 11 and Lathrop led with 11 kills. As a team the Lady Pirates had 45 digs, 39 kills, 35 assists and seven aces.
 
The Lady Pirates are 15-3-1 on the season and were scheduled to host Diamond last night and Springfield Central tomorrow night.