By finishing strong in a marathon fourth set, the Joplin High School volleyball team secured its first Central Ozark Conference victory of 2020.
With a solid overall performance, the Eagles defeated the Branson Pirates 3-1 (25-19, 25-18, 23-25, 34-32) on Thursday night inside Kaminsky Gymnasium.
After winning the first two sets in convincing fashion, the Eagles let the third set slip away.
But the hosts outlasted the Pirates in an intense, hard-fought and crowd-pleasing fourth set that went on and on.
Joplin coach Staci Saunders noted her team simply refused to lose the lengthy fourth set.
“I could not be more proud of our girls,” Saunders said. “When Branson came back, our girls could have just rolled over. We kept battling and battling. I don’t know that we’ve ever gone to 34 points in my time here. It takes some mental toughness to push through in a game like that. We did the little things and worked hard. I think everybody on the court was exhausted, so pushing through and winning that game was huge for us.”
Senior outside hitter Aubrey Ritter led the Eagles (8-4, 1-1 COC) with 19 kills, 18 digs, 11 service points and two kills.
“Aubrey had a heck of a game,” Saunders said.
Despite a sore knee, senior setter Addison Saunders compiled 24 assists, seven digs and seven kills, while Allie Lawrence had 16 digs, 12 service points and nine kills.
“I’m proud of Addison for playing through an injury,” Coach Saunders said. “She was told she should probably rest tonight, but she said no.”
Kaylie Anderson had 17 digs, while Kacy Coss had seven kills and four blocks and Emma Floyd contributed six kills and four blocks. Baileigh Riley had 17 assists, while Mya Johnson added nine digs.
The Eagles had all of the momentum after winning the first two sets, and the hosts held a comfortable 14-6 lead in the third set.
But just when it seemed like the Eagles would secure a straight-set victory, the Pirates stormed back and kept the match going by winning the third set.
Joplin led the fourth set 11-3, but once again, the Pirates kept coming.
Starting at 21-all, the final set was tied again and again, with a number of long rallies and plenty of bodies hitting the floor.
Branson led 31-30, but Joplin’s Coss came up with a key kill for the Eagles.
The final tie score came at 32-all. Joplin’s Ritter had two late kills to finish off the night.
“We played so great the first two sets, but we had a letdown in the third set,” Coach Saunders said. “I have to give Branson credit. No. 25 (Morgan LeBlanc) is effective everywhere on the court. But overall, our defense was much better tonight. I thought we played pretty well against Webb City the other night, but I thought we played even better tonight.”
Branson fell to 14-9-1 and 0-2 in the COC.
The Eagles will be among the area teams competing at Saturday’s Carl Junction Classic.
