CARL JUNCTION, Mo. — On a night where a pair of seniors were honored for career milestones as well with it being Pinkout, Carl Junction ended its home portion of the schedule on a high note after defeating Carthage 25-19, 25-22 and 25-21 in a Central Ozark Conference sweep on Tuesday night.
“I thought we struggled at times, but we found a way to win,” Carl Junction coach Cheryl Sharples said after the victory. “That’s what good teams do, so I am proud of them for fighting through that. There were a lot of distractions tonight and I think we lacked a little bit of focus, but at times we did some really good things.”
RECOGNIZING HISTORY
Before the start of the varsity match between the Bulldogs and the Tigers, Carl Junction senior OH/MB Kylie Scott and senior S/RS Miya Carnes were presented with golden volleyballs after each entered hallowed grounds over the weekend in the Lebanon Pinkfest. Helping the Bulldogs to a second-place finish against some of the stiffest competition in the state, Scott surpassed 1,000-career kills and Carnes surpassed 1,000-career assists.
“I am really excited for those kids,” Sharples said. “It’s hard to get 1,000 kills, and you know Miya really only has one full season as our setter under her belt, and to get to 1,000 career assists is pretty amazing.”
GAME ACTION
Carl Junction took control early in the first set and maintained the momentum throughout thanks to its work at the service line. The Bulldogs had service runs of three points or more from senior OH/DS Abigail Wilson, sophomore S/OH Jadyn Howard and Carnes, with Carnes’ run that included a pair of blocks from junior S/RS Karissa Chase—who totaled 12 kills and three blocks in the win—giving CJ a 17-11 advantage.
“I thought we served really well in the first set,” Sharples said. “We were hitting spots and going after the people we wanted to go after. We kept ourselves in system well and sided out quickly. We just didn’t let them keep going.”
Carl Junction pushed the lead to 22-16 later in the set on back to back kills by Scott, but a sideout kill from junior Carthage S/RS Jaidyn Brunnert, a block from freshman M London Shepherd and an ace by sophomore S/RS Sadie Comer cut the CJ advantage to 22-19.
The Bulldogs earned service after a Tigers’ serving error and ended the opening set with a block from Scott and a kill by Howard.
The second stanza was a back-and-forth affair, as Carthage tied the game at 11-11 before each team traded sideouts for nine straight points until CJ used a pair of Tiger errors to build an 18-15 advantage.
Shepherd earned a sideout kill for Carthage before Scott answered with a tip kill to force a sideout. Scott, who finished with 11 kills, 17 digs and a pair of aces, followed up with a three-point service run that included an ace and a block by senior MH Acadia Badgley to give CJ a 22-16 lead.
Carthage used a sideout and three straight attacking errors by the Bulldogs to jump back within two and ultimately cut the lead to one, 23-22, on a kill from Shepherd and a block by junior M Millie Templeman.
The Bulldogs responded with a kill from senior OH Aubreigh Fowler to force a sideout and finished off the set with an ace from Wilson.
Mimicking the second game, the final set was evenly matched, with Carthage even holding a 20-19 lead late and looking to force a fourth set. Carl Junction closed out the match by scoring six of the last seven points.
The Bulldogs used a kill and an ace from Carnes, who finished with 31 assists and two aces, to regain the lead 21-20 before a kill from junior OH/RS Peyton Ray tied things back up at 21-all with a kill.
Fowler swung through a kill to force a sideout for CJ, who used a three-point service run from Wilson, who closed the night with 19 digs and two aces, to seal the sweep, which ended with kills from Chase and Fowler.
“That is something I feel like we are doing much better at—focusing on the process and not the score,” Sharples said of her team’s response to adversity in the second and third set.
UP NEXT
Carthage (13-15) is at Republic on Thursday to close out the regular season.
Carl Junction (23-7-2) is on the road in its regular season finale, visiting the COC champion Ozark Tigers (23-3) on Thursday.
“I want to see us come out and be competitive,” Sharples said of what she wants to see from her team as they close the regular season. “We kind of have a little saying—play hard, stay tough and never give up. That is what we are focusing on in every situation.”
