CARL JUNCTION, Mo. — Carl Junction used it’s dominance in service to kick off Central Ozark Conference play with a 3-0 sweep of Carthage on Tuesday.
“I thought our kids played really well,” Carl Junction coach Cheryl Sharples said. “They really listened to the scouting report that we gave them and took advantage of it.”
The Bulldogs (6-2, 1-0 COC), winners of five straight matches, and Tigers (8-9, 0-1 COC) played even in the first set before a pair of early three-point service runs gave Carl Junction the momentum on the way to a 25-16 win. The Bulldogs caught fire in the later stages of the second set before pulling away to a 25-12 win. And after a back-and-forth start to the third set, Carl Junction gained footing midway through and never relinquished the lead for a 25-20 win and sweep.
“We did not play our best at all,” Carthage coach Bradyn Webb said. “CJ came out and played to win, and we did not. We are going to get back into the gym, figure it out and play a lot better.”
Carl Junction trailed 5-4 on a kill from Jessa Hylton in the opening set before a three-point service run by Hylton gave the Bulldogs a 7-5 advantage. Hylton had an ace to tie it before a block from Karissa Chase gave CJ the lead. Hylton followed with a kill to end the run.
After a block from Kylie Scott moments later put the Bulldogs on top 10-7, a three-point service run from Ellie Lawson gave CJ a 13-7 advantage. Lawson had an ace and Scott had a kill in the run.
“Our service runs really put us in a position to take them out of that game a little bit,” Sharples said. “They have hitters and big kids, so we wanted to make sure they weren’t a factor in the game.”
Chase came up with a kill on the right side to push the lead to 20-10, Carl Junction maintained that 10-point cushion throughout the remainder of the set with kills from Destiny Buerge, Scott and Logan Jones before Hylton registered a kill to seal the win.
Carl Junction used three early kills and an ace from Hylton, two kills from Scott and Buerge and a pair of aces from Maggie Brown to build a 13-8 advantage in the second game. The Bulldogs then scored the next seven of eight points — highlighted by three kills from Hylton — to take a commanding 20-9 lead on an ace by Jones.
“It all comes down to ball control, and tonight we just didn’t have it,” Webb said. “CJ has a tradition of winning, and that is a mentality. We are trying to change that at Carthage. You go and play to win every single game. That has not been a trend in the past, but we are working on it.”
The Tigers rebounded with a kill from Sydnee Dudolski, a kill from Sophie Shannon and a block from Dudolski to trim the lead to 20-12, but the Bulldogs answered with the final five points of the set fueled by a pair of aces from Hylton in service to close the second game.
“I thought we played really well in the second set,” Sharples said about her team’s close to the set. “Defensively, they were doing the things we asked them to and they were executing on offense. And, again, our serve was very effective.”
Carthage played with a slim lead for much of the early portions of the third set. Trailing 10-9, however, Buerge earned a kill to tie it and force a sideout before back to back kills from Hylton and Scott gave the Bulldogs a lead they wouldn’t give up.
Hylton had consecutive aces to give CJ an 18-14 lead before a kill from Chase and an ace from Olivia Vediz pushed the lead to 20-15. Buerge and Hylton each had a kill late to send CJ to the sweep.
“I talked to them a little bit going into that third set because I think the third set is the hardest set, especially when you’re up 2-0,” Sharples said. “You kind of start to get comfortable. So, I talked to them about not getting comfortable and not letting them get comfortable. We played with them and had some errors in there, but they were aggressive errors and you can live with those. Then, I think we cleaned up our game and kind of took it away.”
STATS
Hylton led all players with 15 kills to go along with a game-high six aces in service. Buerge had 10 kills, an ace and nine digs, while Vediz added 13 digs. Jones had 32 assists, 11 digs and three aces, with Chase adding two blocks.
UP NEXT
Carl Junction is at Republic on Thursday.
Carthage is at Nixa on Thursday.
