By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
As the players headed to the bench to talk things over before a winner-take-all third set, their body language said it all.
On one end of the court the McAuley Warriors looked as if the celebration was already starting. On the other, the Jasper Eagles looked as if an improbable championship run was coming to an end.
McAuley seized the momentum with a win in the second set and led the entire third set to capture the Class 1, District 9 title on Tuesday night at Jasper High School. After Jasper’s 25-17 first set, McAuley won 25-16, 25-19.
“They didn’t want the season to end tonight,” McAuley coach Amanda Walker said. “I told them to get excited, get pumped, whatever it takes but stay grounded, stay in control of the game and that’s what they did tonight.”
Both teams advanced to the championship with straight-sets wins earlier Tuesday. Top-seeded McAuley, now 23-5-2, beat fourth-seeded Thomas Jefferson in the opener, while third-seeded Jasper, 10-17-2, pulled off a minor upset against second-seeded Liberal in the other semifinal.
Jasper and McAuley matched each other shot for shot in the first set of the championship. It was tied nine times before a kill by Jasper junior Kristy Holliday and an ace by senior Katelyn Dockery put the Eagles up 13-11. They led the rest of the set.
Jasper scored three-straight points on kills by senior Kelly Dockery and sophomore Baylee Jeffries to lead 17-13, and the lead grew to five on a kill by Katelyn Dockery that made it 20-15. Jasper scored four of the final points to finish it off.
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“The first time we met with them early in the season it was a three-set game, back and forth,” Walker said. “They’re a solid team. We met them in their tournament and it went in our favor a little bit easier but tonight they came out fighting. I can’t take anything away from Jasper. They’re a good team. They’re a well-coached team but my girls had a goal in mind to finish and that’s what we’re doing.”
The teams traded points again to open the second set, but a 5-1 McAuley run gave the Warriors a 15-9 advantage. Jasper pulled within three, but the Warriors answered with a 6-0 run fueled by a pair of aces from senior Courtney Bates.
At that point, it looked as if the championship was McAuley’s to lose.
“Fewer mistakes, and we were more aggressive,” Walker said. “We tend to get sloppy when we get ahead but we eliminated those silly mistakes.”
“Our hitters sometimes tend to just kind of push or tip and don’t take aggressive swings at the net but when they do that it becomes a game changer for us,” she said. “When they control the ball and we make those tough plays, that definitely turned the momentum in our favor tonight.”
McAuley jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the third set, though Jasper junior Kristy Holliday kept her team in it with a string of kills. Senior Kierstin Johnston’s tip cut Jasper’s deficit to a point, but that was as close as the Eagles could get.
Kills by seniors Claire Lowry, Rebecca Freitas and Madison Szell kept McAuley in control. Jasper pulled within two at 21-19 but didn’t score again and Lowry’s kill finished off the game.
Jasper coach Sylvia Evans termed her players “fighters” but said her team may have run out of steam.
“Liberal has been in our conference for years so we always play hard when we play Liberal and I think they went out there and put all they had in those two games to beat Liberal and we were exhausted,” she said. “I told them they need to come out and put 110 percent into this game because it’s do or die at that point in the championship. Having to play that first game is tough and then come out 15 minutes later and play another. We played good. My kids played good. I think we should have won it but that’s what all coaches are going to say.”
Lowry finished with 14 kills for the Warriors. Junior Taylor Schiefelbein had 30 assists and two aces. Senior Courtney Bates had 20 digs, three kills and five aces. Szell had six kills, and Freitas had five kills and 14 digs.
For Jasper, junior Kristy Holliday had 10 kills and four blocks. Jeffries had six kills and three blocks. Johnston had 25 assists.
McAuley now awaits the winner of District 10, which will be decided Wednesday evening in Adrian. Top-seeded Adrian (26-5-2) plays fourth seed Drexel (4-23) in the first semifinal, while second seed Rich Hill (13-12-3) faces third seed Hume (13-8-1) in the other.
