Jackson wins fifth-straight conference tournament, defeat Saxony Lutheran in championship

The Jackson Indians celebrate after defeating Saxony Lutheran 2-0 in the championship of the SEMO Conference Tournament on Thursday, Sept. 28, at the Cape Girardeau Sportsplex.

Clay Herrell ~ cherrell@semoball.com

For the fifth-straight year, the Jackson Indians claimed the SEMO Conference Volleyball Tournament title.

The road to the fifth title began with the Poplar Bluff Mules before battling the Cape Central Tigers in the semifinals.

The championship round featured the top seeded Indians and the Saxony Lutheran Crusaders.

After winning the first set, Jackson was pushed to the limit by the Crusaders as the Indians didn’t have a lead in the second set until 24-23 before winning the set and tournament 25-23.

“Saxony made us work again tonight,” Indians coach Dave Mirly said. “Kudos to my girls for battling to the very end.”

Mirly credits the run of success for the Indians to the players buying in.

“When these young ladies come to play Jackson volleyball they buy into the culture, they buy into the culture and they buy into the philosophies,” Mirly said. “We preach to them that it’s not about them, it’s about something much bigger than themselves and they buy into it. It’s all about the players.”

The turning point for Jackson came when Payton Gannon went back to serve, sparking a run for the Indians.

“She had some really good serves,” Mirly said. “Saxony had been serve-receiving really well and she was able to get a few aces. That allowed us to take a deep breath because Saxony had been playing great up to that point. Those three points changed the momentum for us.”

Gannon, a senior, knew she needed to change the Indians’ luck.

“I knew I needed to change the energy,” Gannon said. “We were fighting to get those points. At the same time, we were getting frustrated because it wasn’t working.”

For the Indians, using that frustration as motivation was key.

“We had to remind ourselves we were in this moment for a reason,” Gannon said. “We were here because we earned it and we are good enough to be in the moment. We just had to keep that in our minds.”

Despite a dominant effort from the Crusaders, Mirly chose to let his team figure it out on the fly.

“What helped was the bench was so excited and they were communicating,” Mirly said. “When a player comes off the bench and steps on the floor, they’re ready to play. We had a lot of reasons to hang our head in this one tonight and we never did one time. That just shows how mentally tough they are.”

On the road to the title, the Indians didn’t drop a single set.

Saxony Lutheran (16-4) has a quick turnaround as the Crusaders play at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 29, when they host Arcadia Valley at Saxony Lutheran High School.

Jackson (17-6-1) resumes play on Monday, Oct. 2, when they host Farmington at Jackson High School.

Notre Dame takes third place in conference tourney

After taking the Saxony Lutheran Crusaders but coming up short in the semifinals, the Notre Dame Bulldogs bounced back to claim third place in the SEMO Conference Tournament.

The third-place game featured the Bulldogs battling the Cape Central Tigers.

Notre Dame took set one before battling point-for-point in set two, winning 30-28.

“When we’re focused and zoned in on the small things we have to do, we can make some big plays,” Bulldogs coach Meredith Brinkmeyer said. “It’s kind of when we take those points off here and there and we get relaxed that we start to see those errors out there.”

The second set against the Tigers wasn’t the only time the Bulldogs battled back.

After falling behind 6-0 early in set three against the Crusaders, the Bulldogs rallied back, making it a game before Saxony Lutheran prevailed.

“I just really liked how they battled back against a good team,” Brinkmeyer said. “To see them pull it out and have a lead close to the end, I was just very proud of how hard they worked.”

The next step for the Bulldogs is preventing themselves from falling into early holes.

“We just got caught flat footed at times,” Brinkmeyer said. “A lot of times we were in the correct defensive spot, but just a step slow. We just have to be on our toes all the time covering the hitters.”

Notre Dame (14-4-2) will host Leopold at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 29, at Notre Dame Regional High School.