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Jackson volleyball overcomes third-set loss to beat Saxony Lutheran
Jackson was able to overcome a back-and-forth third-set loss to the Saxony Lutheran Crusaders to win the match 3-1 Monday night at Saxony Lutheran High School.
The third set went in favor of the Crusaders 30-28, but not before the lead changed hands multiple times..
Following a Crusader timeout with the score tied 21-21, both teams would get to set point with a chance to win, but neither team could capitalize until the Crusaders found themselves down 28-27 and reeled off three straight points to win the set.
“They fought with everything they had until the bitter end,” Crusaders coach Stephanie Brown said. “30 to 28 in a game to 25 is a long match. We were out of subs and I had to run a lineup that we haven’t run all year. I was super proud of the way they fought.”
Indians coach Dave Mirly knew it would be important for his team to come out fast in the fourth set.
“I told them, ‘Saxony is going to be playing for their lives again’,” Mirly said. “We needed to play with a sense of urgency on our end so it didn’t go five. I felt like we did that after they got a little bit of a lead. We settled in and kudos to Saxony for coming out tonight and playing as well as they did.”
For Brown, she knew it would be tough to turn around quickly in the fourth set following an emotional win in the previous set.
“I don’t feel like we let down completely,” Brown said. “We had some moments but we were right there with them the whole time. A couple little miss hits and miscommunications here and there and it easily could have gone the other way in our favor.”
The Indians would go on to close the match out in the fourth set winning 25-19. Mirly liked the way his team played overall.
“I had my team ready to go,” Mirly said. “I think both teams were a little too amped up that our serves were drifting long and it really hurt us tonight. That’s just being in a big game in a big moment and it was a great atmosphere for volleyball.”
Leading the way for the Indians was Junior Ella Domian with 13 kills, senior Kamryn Link with 30 assists and junior Holland Guilliams with 15 digs.
The Crusaders were led by senior Josey Wahlers with four blocks, junior Clara Brune with seven kills, senior Anna Mueller with 14 digs and sophomore Isabel Brown with 16 assists.
Saxony Lutheran (13-2-1) will be back in action at 7 p.m. Friday when the Crusaders travel to Arcadia Valley.
Jackson (12-2-2) is set to begin play in the SEMO Conference Tournament at 4 p.m. Wednesday against Sikeston (3-8) at the Cape SportsPlex.