Blair Oaks gets past Jefferson City in volleyball

Lauren Casey of Blair Oaks taps the ball over the net during Tuesday night's match against the Jefferson City Lady Jays in Wardsville.
Lauren Casey of Blair Oaks taps the ball over the net during Tuesday night's match against the Jefferson City Lady Jays in Wardsville.

WARDSVILLE, Mo. - It was a three-set kind of night.

After the Blair Oaks Lady Falcons and the Jefferson City Lady Jays played to three sets in the freshman and JV matches, the varsity teams followed suit and went the distance as well Tuesday night.

Jefferson City led most of the third set, but Blair Oaks surged late to win 16-25, 25-15, 25-23.

"It was so fun," Blair Oaks outside hitter Lauren Casey said. "It was Senior Night, you can't let the seniors lose on Senior Night. It was really just a push to play for your team, because that's what you're here to do."

The Lady Jays scored the first four points of the third set, taking the early momentum as they had in the first set. Baylee Rozier had back-to-back kills to put Jefferson City ahead 8-4.

"I felt confident going into that (set), that we were going to snap out of it and be able to pull it out," Jefferson City coach Lisa Hoffmeyer said.

Unlike the first set, however, Blair Oaks wouldn't go away. Jefferson City's largest lead in the final set was 15-10 after a kill by Stephanie Fisher.

That's when Blair Oaks began to trigger a comeback.

A kill by Casey trimmed Jefferson City's lead to 17-16, but the Lady Jays answered with the next three points. An attack error gave the serve back to Blair Oaks, which trailed 20-17.

Blair Oaks coach McKenzie Bennett substituted serving specialist Tori Martin into the match. The Lady Falcons tied the set at 20, then Martin served an ace to give Blair Oaks its first lead of the set at 21-20.

It would be the only lead change for either team in any of the three sets.

"We were really struggling," Bennett said. "It was three points down, get a point back. Three points down, get a point back.

"It really took Tori serving before we took the momentum and swung with it. The ball fell our way during that last stretch."

Following a Jefferson City timeout, Martin served two more aces for five straight service points, stretching the Lady Falcons' lead to three points.

"Once I got those first two points, I grew more confident and knew I could do it," Martin said.

Annabelle Maassen stopped the Blair Oaks run with a kill, but Lanie Lowry answered with a kill to set up match point for the Lady Falcons.

The Lady Jays closed the gap to 24-23 before Mariah Radmacher finished the match with a kill for the Lady Falcons.

The low ceiling in Blair Oaks' gym also tripped up Jefferson City in the third set. The Lady Jays lost four points in the last set on balls that hit the ceiling and changed direction.

"It was a factor, no doubt," Hoffmeyer said. "Before every game, we talk about our keys to success, and that was one of them, that (the ceiling) is a factor and we have to be aware of it and be ready to play a ball out of it. We got caught off-guard a couple of times."

Jefferson City scored five of the first six points in the opening set and never trailed.

After getting a kill, Fisher followed with an ace to extend the Lady Jays' lead to 16-7. Blair Oaks cut the deficit to four points, but Tori LePage recorded four straight service points - including two aces - to help Jefferson City finish off the first set.

"We had to get momentum and keep the momentum going on our side," Bennett said after Blair Oaks struggled to keep the serve in the first set. "We had to get a roll started."

The Lady Falcons listened, scoring the first eight points of the second set.

Casey, who led Blair Oaks with 10 kills and five blocks, gave her team an emotional lift in the second set. She dove for a ball on the third hit that was inches from touching the ground. Casey's dive shot hit the top of the net and dropped over for a point, stretching the Blair Oaks lead to 9-1.

"Lauren's been a staple to keep our team going during the second half of the season," Bennett said. "She has definitely been important in keeping the energy up."

A kill by Radmacher and a block by Casey pushed the Lady Falcons' lead to 13-2, their largest of the set. Just like Jefferson City in the first set, Blair Oaks never trailed in the second set.

Lowry added seven kills and 14 digs for the Lady Falcons. Ali Juergensmeyer - one of Blair Oaks' three seniors honored prior to the match, along with Katelyn Weber and Maggie Savage - had a team-high 27 assists.

Fisher, Maassen and Rozier each had six kills to lead the Lady Jays. Ryann Schenewerk and Veronica Allison finished with 15 and 13 assists, respectively, while LePage had 13 digs. Maassen also served three aces.

Blair Oaks (22-3) wraps up the regular season Thursday at Versailles with a chance to win the Tri-County Conference championship outright.

"We don't want to tie (for first) in conference," Casey said. "We want that win to seal it off."

Jefferson City (18-8-5) hosts Helias on Thursday to finish the regular season.

"We knew this week was going to be a big morale builder, knowing that if we can beat some of these top-tier teams, it would be the confidence we need going into districts," Hoffmeyer said. "The competition is not going to get any easier."

Blair Oaks won Tuesday's JV match 25-21, 24-26, 25-23. Elsie Villmer had a team-high 13 kills for the Lady Falcons and Madison Mitchell had 22 assists and six aces.

Kayla Walters led the Lady Jays (17-10-2) with eight kills and three blocks. Sydney Vogt added five kills and Rylie Bohanan served two aces.

Jefferson City won the freshman match 25-23, 21-25, 29-27 to improve to 15-12-3. Sarah Linthacum had nine kills and five blocks and Joey Turner chipped in nine assists. Abby Farris and Daja Crumble added 13 and 11 digs, respectively.

For Blair Oaks (14-4-5), Hallie Loethen had seven kills, Claire Ready added five kills and Kaelin Forck had 11 assists. Emily Sporleder finished with 12 assists, seven digs and four aces.