By Dana Harding (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Republic — When aggressive teams are able to stay in system and move the ball to the front line with relative ease, bad things can happen to the opposition.
With Lexi Miller at the end of the sequence, those bad things get even worse.
The Carl Junction senior erupted Thursday night for a match-high 13 kills, as the Lady Bulldogs downed Republic in straight sets (25-14, 25-21).
Carl Junction head coach Cheryl Sharples praised her outside hitter’s continued focus and consistency.
“She’s been doing that all year for us,” Sharples said. “It’s a lot of fun having her on the outside, where our outsides can really take control.”
Despite getting off to a slow start in the first set, take control is exactly what Carl Junction did.
While Republic was able to keep the score close thanks to Bella Drennon’s match-opening ace and a pair of Taegan Thomas kills, the Lady Tigers still trailed 12-10.
That’s when Carl Junction made its move.
CLICK HERE FOR PHOTOS OF THE MATCH
Feeding the ball to its aggressive front-line hitters, the Lady Bulldogs ripped off six straight points to kick off a 13-4 closing run.
The Sylvia Lawson-to-Miller combo proved to be particularly devastating for Carl Junction, as Miller notched seven of her kills in the final stretch to close out the set.
Miller was quick to credit her fellow senior for making perfect sets over and over.
“I feel like it’s just being able to work with [Lawson],” Miller said. “Being able to talk and tell her what I need, and then relying on our passers to get the setter a good ball.”
Sharples was pleased with Carl Junction’s ability to move the ball and stay in system.
“Early on, we just weren’t making errors,” Sharples said. “We were putting the ball away, and I thought our ball control was really good. We were digging a lot of stuff and putting a lot of pressure on them.”
The second set saw Carl Junction race out to an early 9-2 lead; however, Republic would not be quite as accommodating this time around.
The Lady Tigers slowly clawed their way back into the set, thanks to 3-0 and 4-0 runs.
“That’s something I absolutely love about this team,” Wright said. “Even though they’re young, they are fighters, and I don’t feel like anybody just gave up.”
Republic closed the deficit late in the set to 23-21, before a pair of kills from Grace Southern closed out the match for Carl Junction.
Republic head coach Piper Wright knew the Carl Junction front line would provide a staunch test; however, the Lady Tigers had few answers. Miller, in particular, caused all sorts of problems for the young Republic squad.
“She single-handedly destroyed us that first set and a lot of the second set,” Wright said. “We just could not time our block with her very well. She has a very powerful arm swing but a different approach than what we are used to, so we just couldn’t quite get the timing right.”
While Wright was pleased with her team’s effort, it was the lack of confidence during crunch time that proved to be the Lady Tigers’ undoing.
“I feel like we fought hard, but we just weren’t on tonight,” Wright said. “We just had one or two girls that got off, and that kind of mentally shook them. It was not our best showing.”
Carl Junction was led by Miller’s 13 kills, Lawson’s 12 assists and eight digs from Kamryn Colburn. Lawson also added two blocks and two aces to the team’s stat line.
Thomas led Republic with 4 kills, Drennon notched 8 assists and Eryn Russell added 13 digs for the Lady Tigers.
Up next for Carl Junction (7-2) is a weekend trip to Kansas for the Pittsburg Tournament. The Lady Bulldogs open up Saturday play against Carthage. Republic (6-4) hosts Webb City on Tuesday, Sept. 19.
Varsity final: Carl Junction – 2, Republic – 0 (25-14, 25-21)
