WEBB CITY, Mo. — After suffering a pair of disappointing setbacks last week, the Webb City Cardinals needed to bounce back.
On Tuesday night, they did just that.
Webb City earned a confidence-building 3-0 victory over rival Carthage in a Central Ozark Conference volleyball matchup inside the Cardinal Dome.
The Cardinals defeated the Tigers 25-15, 25-18, 25-16.
Webb City was coming off a loss to Rogers (Arkansas) in the semifinals of the Carl Junction Classic. The Cardinals also dropped a COC match to Carl Junction last week.
“This is a good win to build some confidence for our kids,” Webb City coach Rhonda Lawrence said. “Rogers was a tough game for us on Saturday, but it was a quality opponent. That’s the kind of team we needed to see. But hopefully tonight we got some confidence back.”
Webb City is now 15-3 overall and 3-1 in the COC.
The 1-2 punch of sophomore middle/right side hitter Jaeli Rutledge and senior outside hitter Aubree Lassiter led the Cardinals. Rutledge recorded 14 kills and three blocks, while Lassiter had 10 kills and four digs.
“I think Carthage had a hard time handling both of them,” Lawrence said of her dynamic duo. “They’re both six foot girls, so that makes a big difference.
“Aubree can be deceptive at the net,” Lawrence added. “Teams think she’s hitting across and she’ll hit it on a straight line. Jaeli has really been elevating her game. We’ve got her swinging a little faster and her touch is higher than most of the kids we play against. She’s contacting the ball at a high level. Her quicker swing has made her more effective.”
Webb City had to overcome an early five-point deficit in the first set.
“We’ve been fighting this all season, letting teams get ahead of us,” Lawrence said. “We came back strong, but that’s something we have to work on. They like coming from behind, but we can’t do that against some of the teams we’re getting ready to see in the conference. And that bit us in the butt against CJ last week, too.”
The visitors stayed within striking distance in the early stages of the second and third sets before the Cardinals grabbed the momentum for good with significant scoring runs.
“You go into every game wanting to win and wanting to battle,” Carthage coach Chloe Allmoslecher said. “I felt like we battled for moments, but finishing was our issue tonight. We battled in every set to 15 points, but the last 10 didn’t go our way. You can’t let a couple of hitters stop you from winning the game.”
Carthage stormed out of the gates in the opening set, taking a quick 5-0 lead after a kill from junior Jaidyn Brunnert.
But the Cardinals regrouped, and the set was tied 8-8.
With Lassiter and Rutledge leading the way, Webb City pulled away, leading 15-9 and 20-13.
Late kills from Lassiter, junior Kirra Long and Rutledge gave the Cardinals the first set, 25-15.
Overall, Webb City finished the opening set on a 17-7 run.
The Tigers hung tough early in the back and forth second set, as the score was deadlocked at 15.
But that’s when the Cardinals grabbed the momentum, using an 8-0 surge to pull away.
Rutledge had a stretch with two kills and two blocks at the net during the spurt.
Carthage trailed early in the third set, but the Tigers rallied with junior Millie Templeman serving, tying the set at 8-all and going up 10-8 after a kill from sophomore Sadie Comer.
The third set was tied at 12 when Webb City once again gained all of the momentum, using a 7-0 burst to go up 19-12.
From there, the Cardinals wouldn’t be denied, as Rutledge hammered home a big kill and junior Mia Lenker served an ace to finish off the match in straight sets.
Allmoslecher noted her team gave a good effort, but simply wasn’t able to stop Webb City’s momentum.
“You can’t let teams go on seven or eight point runs,” Allmoslecher said. “You have to shut them down after two or three points and get the ball back. That’s going to be a focus of ours going forward.”
In addition to Rutledge and Lassiter, Webb City’s Lenker had six kills and seven digs, while senior Makayla Mayes had four kills.
Sophomore setter Savannah Crane handed out 29 assists, while senior libero Sophia Crane recorded a team-high 28 digs.
Carthage senior outside hitter Ava Bourgault had six kills, while Templeman had five kills, Brunnert had four kills and junior Peyton Ray had three kills.
Comer had a team-high 16 digs, while Riann Schwartz had 10 digs and Bourgault had nine. Comer had 11 assists and Brunnert added eight.
Both teams have COC road matches on Thursday, as Webb City is at Nixa and Carthage (11-13, 2-2 COC) is at Willard.
The regular season is quickly winding down, something Allmoslecher is well aware of.
“We’ve only got five regular season games left,” Allmoslecher said. “I’ve been proud of the girls. There’s been a lot of growth this year. We have to keep pushing and see where it takes us at the end.”
For the Cardinals, a key COC clash awaits on Thursday against Nixa (17-3, 3-1 COC).
Lawrence hopes her team can keep things rolling.
“We’ll see what happens,” she said.
