What better way to prepare for a postseason that is less than a month away than by testing yourself on the road against one of your area rivals, who is also a district and conference foe as well?
After already boasting an impressive start to the season, Thomas Jefferson faced that adversity head on in the form of rival College Heights and the Cavaliers came out with a scrappy win in five thrilling sets—18-25, 25-23, 18-25, 25-22 and 15-12—over the Cougars on Thursday at the CHC Athletic Facility.
“The girls wanted this so badly,” Thomas Jefferson coach Emily Burdick said. “They haven’t beaten (College Heights) in years. It was quite an emotional win. They wanted it more than anything and they dug deep to give me 100 percent. That is all I can ask for in matches like this.”
The win gives Thomas Jefferson a 16-3 record on the season and puts the Cavaliers in the driver’s seat of the Ozark 7 Conference with a 4-0 record. The loss drops the Cougars to 9-9-3, 2-1 in conference play.
“We have two more conference games and we want the first seed in district,” Burdick continued about her team’s goals the rest of the way. “I think that is where we’re headed right now, but this win completely changes the momentum of our season. I think we are only going to go up from here.”
BUMP, SET, HISTORY
During the second set, College Heights senior setter Maddy Colin entered the school’s history books after surpassing the 2,000-career assists mark. Colin is the only Cougar to accomplish that feat in school history and is currently the all-time career assists leader with 2,026.
“She has been really blessed to have amazing teammates over her career,” College Heights coach Mary Colin, also Maddy’s mother, said. “It is really, really fun to watch her play because she is a very unselfish player. She gives the ball a lot. Even this year—she is an offensive threat, but she will still give the ball and give the ball.
“She has a lot of range and you will see her throw the ball 30 feet across the net or backset it 25 feet across the net. A lot of people have told me they like watching her play, and I have to agree. She is calm, cool and collected. She never gets too high or too low and is pretty content. That is pretty important as a setter to be able to stay calm and run the offense whether we are up or down.”
FIFTH AND FINAL SET
The fifth set was a microcosm of the heated conference and district matchup—playing out to a 4-4 tie early before TJ jumped in front with two points.
Colin earned a block to cut CHC’s deficit to 6-5 before Cavaliers’ sideout led to a three-point service run from Lannah Grigg, which included a kill from Alexis Stamps and two more from Gabbi Hiebert, to put TJ in front 10-5.
“They are my leaders on the court,” Burdick said of Hiebert and Griggs’ play. “We are a hitting, blocking team. That is what we are super strong in. Whenever they step up, it changes the momentum of the game. They are great leaders. We needed that and they did it for us.”
CHC’s Bailey Peeples earned a sideout kill and the Cougars made the score 10-8 on a kill by Toryn Fink. After trading sideouts, the Cougars used two attack errors on TJ to tie the set at 11-all.
Thomas Jefferson rebounded with a kill from Macie Shifferd to force a sideout before Hiebert earned back to back kills with Leah Studer in service to give the Cavaliers the momentum with a 14-11 advantage.
Fink earned a sideout kill for CHC, but Thomas Jefferson returned the favor on the next point to clinch the set and the match.
HOW THEY GOT THERE
College Heights gained the advantage in the opening set after a pair of early five-point service runs by Colin and Allie Stout staked the Cougars to a 14-4 lead with all of the momentum.
Colin had an ace, while Katie Moss and Peeples each had kills in the run. Stout also had an ace in her run, while Karly Dorris had a block and Fink added a kill.
From there, both teams traded back and forth, with the Cougars never relinquishing the lead en route to the opening-set victory.
“These girls, we have talked all year about how they are not 6-foot-4,” Coach Colin said of her team’s start in the opening set. “We are just a regular group of girls. So, they have to do a lot of little things well to make up for not being super tall. You are going to see a lot of well-placed balls, a lot of teamwork and communication and then just fight, fight, fight.”
Down 3-1 early in the second set, Thomas Jefferson rallied by scoring 12 of the next 16 points to take a 13-8 advantage. Grigg had three kills during that span, with Hiebert garnering two kills and a block.
“We came out a little nervous and were not ready to compete,” Burdick said of the Cavs’ start. “We came out ready to compete in the second set … We came out and were more aggressive at the net, which is where we were lacking in the first set.”
Thomas Jefferson built the lead to as much as seven late on a block from Hiebert to make the score 20-13, and eventually 24-18 before CHC rallied late with a sideout kill from Peeples before and a four-point run in service from Lilly Plassman to trim the Cougars’ deficit to one, 24-23.
The Cavaliers ended the rally with a kill from Grigg to even the match at 1-1.
The Cougars took the momentum back in a third set that was again back and forth, with TJ taking the initial lead before CHC rallied back midway through to lead 16-14 before a kill from Fink pushed the lead to three, 17-14. Fink had back to back kills later in the set to put CHC in front 21-16.
CHC took a 23-18 lead on a sideout kill from Carolynn Satterlee before a kill from Colin and a kill from Peeples ended the game in the Cougars’ favor.
Thomas Jefferson did just as it did earlier in the even when trailing, taking control of the fourth set midway through before holding off College Heights late to force the fifth set.
With TJ up one, the Cavaliers scored 11 of the next 16 points to build a 17-11 advantage. Shifferd had two kills in the spurt, while Maggie Sutton had a kill and an ace.
CHC rallied to cut the lead to 19-15 on a kill from Peeples before TJ answered with five of the next six points, including kills from Sutton and Mary Nguyen, a block-kill from Hiebert and an ace from Shifferd, to lead 24-16.
The Cougars refused to go away, however, with a sideout kill from Satterlee leading to a five-point service run from Christa Miller to cut the TJ advantage to 24-22 before the Cavaliers put the game away on a kill from Nguyen.
STATS
Hiebert finished with 17 kills, 13 blocks and nine digs, while Grigg closed with 14 kills, seven digs, five blocks and two aces. Nguyen added 23 assists, 13 digs, three kills and an ace, while Nayab Rehman had 20 digs. Shifferd contributed 14 digs, seven kills and an ace, while Sutton had 29 digs and two kills. Studer had 13 assists and 10 digs for Thomas Jefferson.
Colin finished with 40 assists, 27 digs and five kills. Fink had 18 kills, while Plassman totaled 51 digs. Stout had 21 digs and three aces, with Moss finishing with 18 digs.
UP NEXT
Thomas Jefferson takes part in the Southwest Volleyfest over the weekend in Washburn.
College Heights hosts McDonald County on Monday.
