WARDSVILLE, Mo. - It was a rather relaxing debut for head coach McKenzie Bennett and several of her Blair Oaks Lady Falcons.
Blair Oaks never trailed and rarely struggled with several new players at the varsity level Tuesday night, winning its season opener 25-8, 25-9 against the Linn Lady Wildcats.
"The nerves are gone, because I was nervous too," Bennett said. "I'm glad we got off to a good start and hopefully Thursday we will continue with that and keep rolling as the season goes on."
The Lady Falcons jumped out to a 9-1 lead in the first set, grabbing plenty of early momentum.
"It was really important because they knew that I expected a lot out of them to begin with," Bennett said of the quick start. "Even though they thought they were going to win this game, they needed to come out and play hard, and they did."
Mariah Radmacher had back-to-back service aces during the early run. Morgan Hoecker stretched the lead to 12-2 with a kill and the Lady Falcons cruised from there, finishing the set with a kill by Lauren Casey, Blair Oaks' only returning varsity player.
Between sets during a team huddle, Bennett's husband, Alex, went behind the bench to take a team photo on his phone, which drew several "Awwws" from the Lady Falcons.
"That was the first time they met him," Bennett said, "so they were all excited."
Blair Oaks struggled in the second set, leading 9-6 after a service error. Eight of Linn's 17 points came by way of service errors from the Lady Falcons.
"They missed too many serves, but they were nervous," Bennett said. "It happens."
Ali Juergensmeyer took control of the serve with the Lady Falcons leading 14-7. She reeled off seven straight service points, including a pair of aces, to build a 14-point lead.
Jurgensmeyer also had a team-high 14 assists and three aces.
"Ali did a great job working her hitters, she didn't just set one hitter constantly," Bennett said. "It was a good combination on offense."
With Blair Oaks leading 23-9, Madison Nolph got a shot off over the net from a tough angle to keep the volley alive, one of the few times the Lady Falcons were challenged by Linn. Blair Oaks eventually won the point, then ended the match with an ace by Radmacher, her third of the night.
"They take every point and make it count," Bennett said. "That (play) was a big deal. They didn't let slop go to slop, they kept to their foundation and what they know is important.
"It's huge for a team who is winning so big that they can still execute plays and not say, 'Oh, it's not a big deal. It's one point.' They really held their own there."
Maggie Savage had a team-high eight kills and Hoecker tallied five kills for Blair Oaks. Casey added three kills.
Lexie Heidbrink and Amber Hueste each had one kill for Linn (0-1).
Blair Oaks (1-0) will open Tri-County Conference play when it hosts School of the Osage on Thursday. The C team match will start at 5:30 p.m., followed by the JV match. The varsity teams will play around 7:30 p.m.
"We have to keep that momentum running," Bennett said. "We need to use our offense to our advantage, because we do have a pretty strong offensive line. We have to keep pushing all the time."
Blair Oaks won JV match 25-7, 25-7 against Linn.