The Jefferson City Lady Jays went 0-3-2 this past week. Maybe they just needed a return home.
Jefferson City scored the final six points Thursday to close out the Hickman Kewpies for a 25-23, 21-25, 25-15 victory in the Lady Jays' first match at Fleming Fieldhouse in more than two weeks.
"It's good to get that weight off your shoulders for sure," Jefferson City coach Lisa Hoffmeyer said. "These kids have kind of ridden a little wave lately as far as trying a lot of different lineups and rotations with injuries and people missing. They've adapted to a lot and trying to work through it. It was nice to see them continue to do that and eventually rise above tonight."
Making a return to the floor after missing time with a concussion was sophomore hitter Kayla Walters, who had four kills and four digs in limited time Thursday.
"We were hoping to use her very minimally tonight, but we weren't playing quite like we wanted to in the first and second set," Hoffmeyer said. "We figured to give it a try and hope she was ready to go and fortunately she was."
The Kewpies took control early in the first set, jumping out to a 10-2 lead.
But the Lady Jays worked their way back as back-to-back kills from Maddie Jones and a Rylie Bohanan ace pulled them within 15-13.
Annabelle Maassen tied it at 18 with one of her team-leading 14 kills and Sydney Vogt added a kill to take the lead.
Vogt, a sophomore, had five kills and seven digs.
"Everybody we've pulled up has really stepped up and done their job, so we're excited about the future," Hoffmeyer said. "We have a pretty strong sophomore class."
Fellow sophomore Rhakayla Blackmon earned playing time late in the match as the Lady Jays attempted to slow down Hickman middle hitter Emma Chapman.
"Trying to get some size over there on the right side," Hoffmeyer said. "They have that big middle who was doing some damage when she was running on that side of the court, so trying to get a little more size over there and hoping to slow her down."
Chapman led the Kewpies with 17 kills.
After the Lady Jays took the lead in the first set, Hickman tied it three times but Jones capped it off with a kill for Jefferson City.
The Kewpies once again held an early lead in the second set, but this time they didn't let the Lady Jays take it away.
"We started to play timid in that second set and that's kind of been the trend for us, unfortunately," Hoffmeyer said. "When things aren't going quite like we would like them to we kind of tighten up and start making what we think is the safe play and instead we end up making mistakes trying to do that."
In the third set, Jefferson City made the early run to lead 3-0 and only let Hickman lead when it was 5-4.
Setter Paige Reeser added to the offensive attack by sneaking a couple over the net for two of her three kills in the match. She also had 38 assists and 13 digs.
"She's starting to see the defense really well, which is exciting for us," Hoffmeyer said. "We've been challenging her quite a bit with a couple different drills that I know are frustrating for her some days, but I think it's really starting to train her peripheral vision."
Zoe Stratman, who had eight kills and nine digs, made it 16-10 Jefferson City with a kill. Maassen recorded her final kill for a 22-15 lead as part of the 6-0 run to end the match.
Jefferson City (15-12-3) will wrap up the regular season Tuesday by hosting Blair Oaks.
"We actually scrimmaged with them over the summer, so we have a pretty good idea of what we're going up against," Hoffmeyer said. "But we also feel confident at the same time. We know they are a tremendously talented team, but I think tonight will help us kind of catch our groove and get back into our rhythm."
In the JV match, Hickman defeated Jefferson City 14-25, 25-17, 25-22. Taylor Roettgen led Jefferson City (12-17-3) with five kills. Jordan Niermeyer tallied 12 digs and four aces, while Blackmon had three blocks.
Hickman won the freshman match 25-21, 25-20. Emma Loesch had 15 digs and Ada Humphrey totaled four kills for Jefferson City (6-15-1).