The biggest change from their first meeting this season was the venue.
On Thursday night, Helias and Jefferson City met for the second time in volleyball this season. The Aug. 30 meeting at Fleming Fieldhouse went to the Lady Crusaders 25-18, 25-15. The scene shifted to Rackers Fieldhouse, but the result was similar as the Lady Crusaders posted a 25-18, 25-13 victory.
"It really felt a lot like the last time," Helias coach David Harris said. "This match is always a little different, there are a lot of things around that aren't in other games."
It was all too familiar to the Lady Jays.
"We watched the film from the last time we played them and in the second set, we had 15 unforced errors," Jefferson City coach Lisa Hoffmeyer said. "That was 15 points they didn't have to earn and that makes it hard to win sets in volleyball when you do that.
"And I think when we watch this film, we're going to see a lot of the same things."
Helias used a 4-1 run to take a 10-5 lead in the first set. The Lady Crusaders led by as many as seven points before the Lady Jays cut into the deficit.
Four straight service points from Maddi Stone pulled Jefferson City to within 20-18.
"It was boom, boom, boom, boom," Harris said.
But an unforced error halted the run for the Lady Jays as the Lady Crusaders scored five straight to take a 25-18 victory.
"We got a little reprieve and we did a good job after that in closing it out," Harris said.
Helias vaulted to a 12-3 lead in the second set before Jefferson City rattled off four straight points to cut the Lady Crusaders' lead to five.
But Helias tallied eight of the next 11 points on its way to the 25-13 victory.
"We did a good job of making them play the ball," Harris said. "That's really our goal every time out, but we did a good job of that tonight in making them earn the points they got."
The Lady Jays were left lamenting the opportunities that got away because of unforced errors.
"We hurt ourselves, not taking anything away from them, they are a phenomenal team, but we hurt ourselves," Hoffmeyer said.
Stone finished with a team-high seven service points for the Lady Jays.
Jefferson City (17-12-5) is the No. 2 seed in the Class 4 District 9 Tournament next week at Hickman. After a first-round bye, the Lady Jays will take on the winner of Grain Valley-Sedalia Smith-Cotton in the semifinals at 6:30 p.m. The title match of the tournament will follow at 8 p.m. Blue Springs South is the top seed.
"Nights like tonight, it's frustrating to see us not compete," Hoffmeyer said. "But I know these kids have more in them than they showed here and we're going to be ready for districts."
Lexy Lamb had 15 assists and three kills for the Lady Crusaders, while Hannah Borchelt finished with eight kills. Erin Wyrick totaled four blocks and three kills, while Regan Bruns had four digs and three kills. Lamb had seven service points, while Bruns had three aces among her six points.
Helias (29-3-3) will wrap up the regular season Saturday against Quincy, Ill. The JV and freshman matches will start at 11 a.m., followed by the varsity around 12:15 p.m.
In the JV match, Helias was a 25-7, 25-21 winner. Riley Bernskoetter finished with nine assists for the Lady Crusaders (27-5), while Jada Oldham had eight. Krystal Brauner had nine digs and Grace Millard totaled six kills.
In the freshman match, Helias posted a 25-20, 25-22 victory. Mackenzie Stegeman totaled 11 assists and 10 points for the Lady Crusaders (26-5-1), while Gracie Bernskoetter had 16 digs. Claire Bonnot finished with 11 digs and eight assists, while Olivia Garrett totaled 10 digs and five kills. Tessa Wilson led with 11 kills.