CARL JUNCTION, Mo. — Given the circumstances, it would have been easy for the Carl Junction Bulldogs to call it a night at the conclusion of the opening set of Thursday night’s clash with the Willard Tigers.
Near the end of a back-and-forth first set, Carl Junction senior outside hitter Jessa Hylton went down with an apparent leg injury.
With that, the Bulldogs were forced to play the rest of the matchup against the defending Class 4 state champion Tigers without their leader in kills.
But the hosts didn’t hang their heads after the injury to Hylton. Instead, they hung tough the rest of the night.
In the end, however, Willard defeated Carl Junction 3-1 in a key Central Ozark Conference clash. The Tigers defeated the Bulldogs 25-22, 16-25, 25-22, 25-23.
Carl Junction coach Cheryl Sharples noted she was extremely pleased with her team’s effort.
“I’m so proud of my kids,” Sharples said. “When something like that happens, you can easily fold and go down. But they didn’t. They battled. We had some kids step up and do some good things. I’m extremely proud of them.”
The contest had a postseason feel to it after these two teams last met in the sectional round of the Class 4 state tournament.
“We knew this match would be fun and exciting, especially with how our season ended last year,” Sharples said, noting a loss to the eventual-champion Tigers. “We knew it would be a heated battle tonight. My kids left it all out on the court.”
The loss snapped Carl Junction’s 10-match winning streak. The Bulldogs are now 17-5 overall and 3-1 in the COC. It was Carl Junction’s first setback since Sept. 18, when the Bulldogs dropped a match to COC-leading Nixa at the Springfield Classic.
Willard improved to 16-3-1 overall and 4-0 in the COC.
The opening set was close all the way, with ties at 10, 14 and 20.
Willard went up 23-20 after an ace from Kindall Smithson, but Hylton slammed back to back kills to bring her team within one.
But Hylton was injured at that point. She had to be helped off the court and did not return to action the remainder of the evening.
After the delay, the Bulldogs committed a hitting error before the Tigers closed out the set on a kill from Lael Brandon.
Even without one of their senior leaders and top attackers on the court, the Bulldogs responded in the second set.
Carl Junction went ahead 11-8 after kills from Kylie Scott and Maggie Brown.
Kills from Destiny Buerge and Karissa Chase extended CJ’s lead to 16-11.
Late in the set, Scott had a pair of blocks at the net, while Buerge, Logan Jones and Brown all recorded kills to give the Bulldogs a convincing set victory.
However, the Tigers came out on top in the next two sets. Both sets could have gone either way.
The third set was tied at 19 before the Tigers rattled off three of the next four points. A kill from Buerge pulled Carl Junction within one, but Willard’s Paige Durham slammed a kill at the net before the hosts had an attack error and then a service error, giving Willard the set.
“We’re going to miss some serves because we’re being aggressive,” Sharples noted. “I have to accept that it’s going to happen because we’re serving aggressive and trying to get teams out of system.”
The fourth set was similar to the third. The set was tied at 22 after kills from Chase and Buerge.
The Bulldogs then had two net violations. Jones had a kill for the hosts, but Willard’s Durham slammed a match-ending kill.
A junior setter who has committed to Arkansas, Jones handed out 59 assists, besting her own school record for a single match. She previously had 54 assists in a match. Jones added 11 digs, six blocks and an ace.
A junior outside hitter, Buerge contributed 16 kills and 23 digs, while freshman right side hitter Chase had 12 kills.
A sophomore middle hitter, Scott had 10 kills and eight blocks, while senior middle/outside hitter Brown contributed 10 kills and 18 digs.
Senior defensive specialist Ellie Lawson had 12 digs, while Hylton had 10 kills.
Senior libero Olivia Vediz contributed 22 digs.
Carl Junction hosts Webb City on Tuesday night.
