Blair Oaks downs Hallsville in volleyball

WARDSVILLE, Mo. - It was a tale of two sets for the Blair Oaks Lady Falcons.

Blair Oaks came out flat to start the first set Thursday against the Hallsville Lady Indians, then finished the second set with plenty of energy in a 25-21, 25-7 win in Tri-County Conference play.

"We luckily got through that (first) game, and came out night-and-day difference in the second game," Blair Oaks coach McKenzie Bennett said.

The Lady Falcons only trailed briefly in the first set at 3-2, and they led by as many as six points following a kill from Lauren Casey to make the score 15-9.

Blair Oaks continued to hold a six-point margin at 19-13 when Raegan Hicks had a kill for Hallsville and Chase Ott Crane had four straight service points to make the score 19-18, leading to a Blair Oaks timeout.

"We really struggled to pass and we really struggled to communicate with one another," Bennet said. "Those are two key elements you have to have to win a ballgame."

The Lady Falcons were coming off their longest layoff of the season, playing for the first time since last Saturday's West Plains Tournament.

"Our mindset shouldn't have been too terrible, but it is hard to practice four days in a row," Bennett said. "The kids came out super flat and didn't play well at all. When I called my timeout, that's exactly what I told them."

A pair of Hallsville service errors gave Blair Oaks a slight edge, but not much at 22-20. Tori Martin got the Lady Falcons' biggest dig of the game, leading to a kill by Lanie Lowry to stretch the lead to three points.

"Tori did a really good job of covering that ball," Bennett said. "Sometimes it takes a little luck to get the momentum back on your side, and we had that. She made a great play to take that momentum our direction."

Morgan Hoecker finished the first set with a kill for Blair Oaks.

The Lady Falcons never trailed in the second set, getting six straight service points from Ali Jurgensmeyer, who had three aces during the run. Blair Oaks finished the second set with eight aces.

"That's a goal we've been working on, fewer and fewer missed serves," Bennett said. "Tonight, we had three total missed serves, and our goal is no more than two per game."

Martin added another service ace, stretching the lead to 14-2. Madison Nolph served two aces and Madison Mitchell had back-to-back aces to finish the match.

Casey had a team-high six kills, while Lowry and Hoecker had four and three kills, respectively. Juergensmeyer finished with 14 assists, Nolph had four aces, Katelyn Weber chipped in seven digs and Casey added two blocks.

Blair Oaks is nearing full health on its roster. Nolph was out last week with a bruised elbow, but returned in time for last Saturday's tournament. Mariah Radmacher missed the tournament and Thursday's match with patella tendinitis, but Bennett said she'll return to the court next week.

Bennett added freshman Elsie Villmer to the varsity roster last Saturday for some depth in the meantime.

"On Saturday, Elsie played outstanding," Bennett said. "Probably the best Cinderella story I've seen, coming from a freshman to join a varsity team at the last minute. She found out at 2 p.m. Friday that she was leaving (with us) at 4 p.m. She stepped up to the plate and played really well.

"They are rising to the occasion above these injuries and they're being very adaptive."

Blair Oaks (11-2, 5-0 Tri-County) plays Monday at Southern Boone with a chance to clinch at least a share of the conference title.

In the JV match, Blair Oaks won 25-8, 25-15 to improve to 14-1-3.

Emma Schroeder had four kills to lead the Lady Falcons, while Paige Henry and Mitchell each had five assists. Mitchell also served seven aces.