For a moment, it looked like the Joplin Eagles were going to earn a clean sweep over the rival Carthage Tigers on Tuesday night.
But just minutes later, after a sudden shift in momentum, it appeared as if the Eagles were going to let one slip away, as the visiting Tigers looked poised to pull off an improbable come-from-behind win.
In the end, Joplin got it done in the deciding set and the Eagles earned a hard-fought 3-2 victory over the Tigers in Central Ozark Conference volleyball action inside Kaminsky Gymnasium.
The Eagles defeated the Tigers 25-18, 25-22, 25-27, 15-25, 15-7.
“It’s always fun to play a conference and district opponent,” Eagles coach Desiree Felker said. “Carthage brought the energy and intensity. They didn’t make our job easy tonight. I feel good that we were able to come out with the win. Credit to Carthage. They didn’t go away and they kept fighting. That made it really fun in here tonight.”
“That match was so much fun and I’m so proud of my girls,” Tigers coach Chloe Allmoslecher said. “There’s definitely a rivalry with us and Joplin. They knocked us off for the district championship last year. We got them at the jamboree this year. I was really proud of my girls. It’s not easy to lose the first two sets and come back. So I was really proud we could make it a five-set night. It was a fun game to watch.”
In a clash between Class 5 District 7 foes, Joplin won the first two sets and appeared to be on the way to a 3-0 sweep.
But the Tigers came from behind to win the third set and carried over their momentum en route to taking the fourth set, forcing a fifth set.
After dropping two straight sets, the Eagles took the lead right away in the deciding fifth set — and they never relinquished it.
“This win should give us a lot of confidence going forward,” Felker said. “I feel like we’re getting better every night, and I hope this win fuels their fire.”
The Eagles pulled away in the first set with Jayla Hunter serving.
The second set was deadlocked at 22 after Carthage’s Abby Holderbaum slammed a kill at the net. The Tigers committed a serving error, Joplin received an ace from Abby Edwards and the set ended after a Carthage attack error.
Joplin looked in control of the third set, as the Eagles led 21-14. But the Tigers stormed all the way back with a 10-3 run to tie it up at 24 after an ace from Mia De La Pena.
Carthage’s Kinley Adams and Joplin’s Bailey Owens traded kills before the Tigers scored two straight points on a Holderbaum kill and a Joplin hitting error.
The Tigers kept the momentum in the fourth set, leading 18-13 en route to the win.
“We did a good job of keeping the ball alive and we took advantage of their mistakes,” Allmoslecher said. “We noticed they had to run a little bit different lineup. We stayed level-headed on the court. It paid off. I’m proud of how my girls stayed mentally tough. I just wish we could have pulled it off.”
“We had some lineup changes that may have caused us to panic a little bit,” Felker said. “Carthage definitely kept the momentum in the fourth set. We just had to reset and refocus after the fourth set.”
Joplin never trailed in the fifth set, as the Eagles led 6-2 after a kill from Serafina Auberry. Auberry and Owens slammed two kills apiece late in the set to give the Eagles the win.
“We did a really good job of putting the ball away in the fifth set,” Felker said. “We found a way to terminate the ball. Serafina and Bailey took over and made sure that happened.”
A junior outside hitter, Owens led the Eagles with 16 kills. A senior outside hitter/middle blocker, Auberry added 14 kills.
Senior outside hitter Paisley Parker contributed 20 digs and nine kills.
Senior setter Kaya Cooper had 22 assists and 16 digs, while classmate Abby Hembree handed out 20 assists. Cooper and Parker had four aces apiece.
A senior libero, Hunter had a team-high 32 digs. Edwards added 13 digs.
Holderbaum had 15 kills for the Tigers, while Brielle Cartwright added 12 kills.
Riann Schwartz had 29 digs, while Raven Probert handed out 18 assists. Jaidyn Brunnert added 15 assists.
Both teams return to conference action on Thursday, as Joplin (8-5-1, 1-0 COC) is at Branson and Carthage (4-11, 0-1 COC) is at Ozark.
