CARL JUNCTION, Mo. — Carl Junction volleyball found itself in an early-week dog fight against Rogers, Arkansas, with the Bulldogs outlasting the Mountaineers 23-25, 25-14, 25-19, 18-25 and 17-15 on Monday for their third straight win this season.
“I thought our kids dug really deep for this win,” Carl Junction coach Cheryl Sharples said. “I know it was probably going to be a tough night because of our community situation, but I thought everyone really dug deep there at the end to find a way to win.”
The fifth set was, in a sense, a microcosm of Carl Junction’s thrilling win in a war of attrition. The Bulldogs found themselves 6-3 early after a four-point service run from Sadie McConnell that included an ace, which ultimately turned into a 9-5 deficit before a sideout and five-point run in service by Jocelyn Brown that included a Destiny Buerge kill and block from Adia Kennedy gave Carl Junction an 11-9 advantage.
The Mountaineers scored the next three points to take a 12-11 lead before CJ jumped back in front with a kill from Kennedy and Buerge to go up 13-12. Both teams traded sideouts for the next points until CJ used back-to-back kills from Kylie Scott to put away the set and the win. Scott scored the last four points for the Bulldogs down the stretch.
“I thought our middles made a really good adjustment, blocking wise, in the fifth set,” Sharples said. “We were kind of struggling with that in the fourth set, so that adjustment of getting the block close helped a lot. I thought we did a pretty good job, once we got on a little bit of a run, of really serving them a little more aggressively, getting them out of system and then taking advantage of the ball we were given. And Kylie came on really strong there at the end.”
The win moves Carl Junction to 3-1 to start the season.
STATS
Scott finished with a team-high 21 kills to go along with 16 digs. Lo Jones had 53 assists and 16 digs, while Buerge had 15 kills, a team-high 25 digs and five aces in service. Sarah Buchele had 19 digs, while Kennedy had eight kills and two blocks.
GAME ACTION
Carl Junction played in front for nearly the entire opening game thanks to a four-point run in service by Kylie Scott to build a 10-6 advantage. Karissa Chase had a pair of kills in the run, while Aubreigh Fowler also had a kill.
“The more they grow, those two, (the better we will be as a team),” Sharples said. “Aubreigh is kind of playing out of position, but she is getting better and her offense was really good tonight for us. As those two, and Adia, develop, that is just going to make us that much better.”
Lauryn Heinle used a three-point run capped by a Brooklynn Weaver kill to bring Rogers within two of the lead, 16-14. Dahana Tuomala cut the lead to 20-19 with a kill before a Mountaineers ace tied things up. With Madison Rhea in service late, Rogers scored the final three points on kills from Weaver and Heinle to clinch the first set.
The Bulldogs evened things back up in the second set thanks to a momentum-changing service run by Destiny Buerge, who pushed a 9-7 advantage to 18-7 after scoring nine straight points. She had four aces in the run.
“She really did a great job of hitting her spots, serving aggressively to get them out of system and give us an opportunity to score,” Sharples said. “That was really key. At that point, we just really took control of that set from there.”
CJ held pace in the second set with Buerge getting a kill and Jocelyn Brown serving up an ace to close out the second set with a win.
The Bulldogs and Mountaineers were in another back-and-forth affair all the way through the third set by Scott ripped off the final five points of the match in service to give Carl Junction the 2-1 advantage heading into the fourth set. Chase had a block and a kill in the run, while Buerge added a kill as well.
Rogers jumped out to a 4-0 advantage to start the fourth game and the Mountaineers never relinquished the lead, forcing a winner-takes-all fifth set on an ace from Olyvia Hall.
UP NEXT
Carl Junction is at McDonald County on Thursday before kicking off Central Ozark Conference play when the Bulldogs host Webb City on Sept. 20.
“This is the kind of battle we need night in and night out to prepare for where we want to be,” Sharples said when asked what the five-set win meant as conference play draws nearer. “It gives us a lot of confidence to pull a win out against a good team with really great hitters and really great athletes.”
