WARDSVILLE, Mo. - It appeared as if the California Lady Pintos were going to force a third and deciding set Thursday night.
The Blair Oaks Lady Falcons wouldn't let it get that far.
Trailing 17-13 in the second set, Blair Oaks rallied to score 11 of the next 13 points, finishing off California in straight sets 25-22, 25-22, running its streak of consecutive Tri-County Conference wins to 21.
"I wish they wouldn't dig themselves in such a hole in every game we play, but they do," Blair Oaks coach McKenzie Bennett said. "They did a good job of not letting it get the best of them tonight, not falling to the pressure."
Lauren Casey started the second-set rally with a pair of kills and a pair of California errors cut the Lady Pintos' lead to 18-17. After a Blair Oaks service error, Morgan Hoecker and Maggie Savage had back-to-back kills to tie the set at 19.
The next point led to some confusion, and a stall in momentum. One referee called four hits on Blair Oaks, leading to cheers from the California fans, but the other referee said the was a clean block by the Lady Falcons. The split decision led to a replay of the point.
"I was trying to have my speaking captain go over and ask (the referee) to find out what the ruling was for sure, but they went ahead and whistled for the serve," California coach Julie Bailey said.
Blair Oaks setter Ali Juergensmeyer answered with her only kill of the match, then Lanie Lowry served back-to-back aces to extend the Lady Falcons' lead to 22-19.
"She is very good offensively at the net for us," Bennett said of Juergensmeyer, who also finished with 23 assists.
Savage followed with a kill and a California error made it 24-19. The Lady Pintos scored the next three points, including an ace from Chloe Schenewerk, but Blair Oaks finished the match with a kill by Hoecker.
"Both teams played well and it could have gone either way," Bailey said. "We had them in the second set, I hate that we gave it to them. We just made some bad passing that hurt us, but they also had some really good kills."
California led 8-3 in the second set, forcing Blair Oaks to call timeout. A block by Schenewerk extended the lead to 11-5, California's biggest lead of the set.
The opening set was more of a seesaw battle, with neither team leading by more than one point through the first 11 points. California retook the lead with a kill by Schenewerk and led by as many as four points at 12-8.
Blair Oaks tied the match at 15, only to fall behind 17-15 after back-to-back errors.
The match was tied at 22 when a service error gave the Lady Falcons the lead.
Bailey said four service errors in the first set were costly for the Lady Pintos.
"We should have won that set too if we hadn't had the serving errors," she said. "I told the girls we need to clean that up, and they did in the second set."
Tori Martin came off the bench for Blair Oaks to finish the opening set with an ace that landed on the left sideline.
"There's such a difference between serving the ball over the net and serving aggressively in a hard spot," Bennett said. " These kids always serve aggressively."
Hoecker and Casey each had a team-high seven kills for Blair Oaks, while Savage had four kills. Lowry served three aces, Savage added two blocks and Mariah Radmacher recorded 15 digs.
Schenewerk led the Lady Pintos with six kills and two blocks. Gracie George had a team-best 10 assists.
California (5-1, 2-1 Tri-County) plays Saturday in the Fulton Tournament.
"I think we played well, but we had some mistakes," Bailey said. "If we play this well against a lot of teams, we're going to win."
Blair Oaks (7-1, 4-0 Tri-County) plays Saturday in the West Plains Tournament.
"I hope they take this momentum and excitement, and what we've built with communication, into this weekend," Bennett said.
The other two matches Thursday night went three sets.
In the JV match, Blair Oaks won 25-22, 23-25, 25-13. Kayle Hoelscher and Elsie Villmer each had five kills for the Lady Falcons, while Madi Mitchell added 12 assists and seven service aces. Page Lemongelli finished with 15 digs.
For the Lady Pintos, Paige Lamm, Breanna Roberts, Makayla Schanzmeyer and MacKenzie Swillum each had three kills. Amber Trachsel tallied seven assists.
California took the win in the freshman match 17-25, 25-20, 25-20. Zoe Edwards had four kills and Dylann Henley added five assists for the Lady Pintos.
Kaelin Forck had 11 assists and Molly Juergensmeyer served nine aces and had 15 digs for Blair Oaks.
Emily Sporleder, Claire Ready and Grace Sandbothe each had five kills.