CARTHAGE, Mo. — Carthage led from start to finish in a 3-0 victory over Joplin on Tuesday night in a matchup between Central Ozark Conference and district foes.
With a solid overall performance, the Tigers defeated the Eagles 25-16, 25-10, 25-14.
“I’m feeling really good about that one,” Carthage coach Chloe Allmoslecher said. “I feel like we came out and made it clear that we were taking care of business tonight. We’re now 3-0 in our district and we’re still undefeated on our home court. I feel like we’re building some confidence.”
Now 5-0 at home, Carthage hiked its record to 9-9 overall and 2-0 in the conference.
Gaining the momentum early in all three sets, Carthage never trailed in the match.
“That’s definitely rare in a three-set match,” Allmoslecher said of never trailing. “And when it’s a district and conference opponent and a close rival, you never know how it’s going to go. But the girls showed up tonight and I’m just so proud of them.”
In the opening set, the Tigers pulled out to a 7-2 lead after an ace from junior outside hitter Peyton Ray, and Carthage led 18-8 after kills from juniors Jaidyn Brunnert and Millie Templeman.
Joplin senior outside hitter Bailey Owens recorded a pair of kills for the visitors, but the Tigers finished off the set after kills from senior Ava Bourgault and Brunnert.
Once again pulling away early, Carthage held leads of 9-1 and 14-2 in the second set victory.
Joplin received kills from both Janiah Vaughn and Aiyana Kroll, but the visitors still trailed 18-9.
The Tigers closed the second set on a 7-1 run, capped by a kill from Templeman and an ace from Brunnert.
In the third set, Carthage once again took control early, leading 6-1 and 11-5 after a kill from Bourgault.
The Tigers simply got on a roll, as sophomore Sadie Comer served four straight aces for a comfy 18-8 advantage.
Bella Coy and Brunnert recorded kills late in the set, as the Tigers finished off the clean sweep.
“Tonight was fun,” Allmoslecher said. “All of the girls were focused, but they were having fun and doing it as a team. As a whole, I feel like we took care of business.”
Templeman led the Tigers with 15 kills and had only one attack error.
“Millie touched the ball a lot and they were triple blocking her,” Allmoslecher said. “She was swinging aggressively, so I was proud of her.”
Bourgault added eight kills, while Brunnert, Coy and London Shepherd all contributed four kills apiece.
Brunnert handed out 17 assists, while Comer had 13 assists. Ray had seven aces.
The Tigers served 15 aces in the match, as the Eagles struggled with their serve-receive.
“We’ve had to fight for our consistency with our serves,” Allmoslecher said. “As a coaching staff, we’ve really been on them about that. Tonight, we were really consistent and aggressive and that’s all you can ask for.”
Joplin fell to 3-9 overall and 0-2 in the COC.
“We’ve still got work to do, and I’m not going to give up on these girls,” Joplin coach Staci Saunders said. “I have to give Carthage a lot of credit. Their girls played with heart and they played very well. We played very slow and casual. We didn’t seem to get up for this match.”
Owens led the Eagles with nine kills and seven digs, while fellow senior Raelin Calderon added four kills.
Junior setter Adalynn Noirfalise handed out 17 assists for the Eagles, while junior libero Phia Vogel had a team-high nine digs.
Both schools have been assigned to Class 5 District 7, so they may meet again in postseason play.
WHAT’S NEXT?
Both teams will host COC matches on Thursday, as Carthage meets Ozark and Joplin entertains Branson.
