After dropping the first set, School of the Ozarks found its stride late in the second and was able to mount a thrilling, three-set comeback over Galena Tuesday night (22-25, 25-19, 25-18).
Lady Bear hitters Megan Caulfield and Bailey May created a host of problems for the School of the Ozarks with both size and positioning at the net.
The 6-foot-1-inch Caulfield, in particular, made her presence known early on. The junior middle hitter notched a key block late in the opening set, and then ended the first set with a service ace to give Galena a 25-22 win.
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Down a set, School of the Ozarks rallied behind a solid front line of Caroline Tillack, Olivia Vinton and Brooke Housley.
Late in the second, with the score tied 19-19, the Lady Patriots turned to Tillack at the service line.
The junior responded.
Tillack registered two aces, and School of the Ozarks closed out the set with a 6-0 run.
“In the first set, communication was rough, and we were slow on our feet,” Tillack said. “Throughout the game, we just started communicating and realized we just needed to play our own game and figure out how to make it work.”
Lady Patriots head coach Charlie Warfield praised his team’s composure under pressure.
“We went on a 6-0 run to finish that second game,” Warfield said. “In those crucial pressure moments, I was really proud of our girls … both the servers and the defensive players. Having something like that during crunch time is special.”
In the third set, School of the Ozarks used an early 6-1 run to gain an advantage; however, the Lady Bears wouldn’t go away quietly.
A late Galena rally cut the School of the Ozarks lead to 20-16, and for a moment, it seemed as if the momentum would shift even further.
Unfortunately for the Lady Bears, Tillack and Vinton had other plans.
The duo notched a combined four kills down the stretch to preserve the victory for School of the Ozarks.
For Vinton, a key adjustment at the net made a big difference for the Lady Patriots.
“It was really hard getting around their blocks,” Vinton said. “[Caulfield] is super tall, so we had to find ways to get around and not go over. So, as soon as we started doing that and getting different momentums, then that really helped carry us through the rest.”
Vinton and Tillack led School of the Ozarks with 8 and 7 kills, respectively. The duo also finished with 10 digs each.
For Galena and head coach Hannah Fondriest, miscues within the serve-receive game proved to be the Lady Bears’ undoing.
“If our girls could just figure out that it’s OK if you make a couple bad shanks,” Fondriest said. “You just have to get it out of your and and get it up on the next ball as best you can. Once we get a good pass up to our setters, our hitters have been ready and hungry. We just couldn’t get a good set up, and that’s really what killed us in that third set.”
May led the Lady Bears with 8 kills on the evening. Caulfield added 6 kills and 6 blocks.
Next up for School of the Ozarks (8-7) is a Thursday night matchup with Blue Eye, while Galena (9-6-2) hosts Billings that same evening.
Varsity Final: School of the Ozarks – 2, Galena – 1
S of O 22 25 25
Galena 25 19 18
JV Final: School of the Ozarks – 2, Galena – 0 (25-19, 25-22)
