Lady Jays hold off Ozark for three-set win

It's been a good week for the Jefferson City volleyball team.

On Tuesday, the Lady Jays defeated Helias, a team that has won two Class 3 state championships in the past five years.

On Thursday, they defeated a team that's made it to the Class 4 Final Four nine out of the past 10 years.

"We knew we had a lot of talent coming our way," Jefferson City coach Lisa Hoffmeyer after the Lady Jays defeated Ozark 25-22, 13-25, 25-19 at Fleming Fieldhouse. "And inside that talent we have some really good kids.

"So when you're able to get these kind of big wins early, I think that it just reinforces that belief that we have in them and that they have in themselves as far as what we are capable of doing."

The Ozark Lady Tigers took a 5-3 lead in the third set before the Lady Jays got rolling.

Kayla Walters found the back corner to tie it at 5 and Emily Houser added an ace for a 7-5 lead. Jefferson City led the rest of the way.

Walters had nine kills and just one hitting error.

"She did a really nice job swinging high off of the hands, trying to get to those deep edges of the court," Hoffmeyer said. "That's been a real change for her going from going out of the middle and everything was fast and just bang, bang, and now having to adjust to that role as an outside attacker and having to be a little more methodical sometimes about where you're going with the ball."

The lead reached 19-10 with four of Annabelle Maassen's team-high 11 kills coming during that stretch.

"That's something that we are always going to count on her to do," Hoffmeyer said. "She's always had the ability to kind of drag her team out of a rut or even just capitalize when things are going well."

Ozark had one last run left when Jefferson City went up 24-16.

A pair of blocks and a Jefferson City attacking error got the Lady Tigers within 24-19.

It was a similar situation in the first set when Ozark scored seven consecutive points to get within 24-22.

But setter Paige Reeser got the ball over to clinch the first set and defensive specialist Sydney Vogt sealed the match when the ball grazed off the net and eventually out of play off Ozark in front of the student section.

"She earns it, man," Hoffmeyer said of Vogt. "She's a workhorse back there in the backcourt and one of those kids that would hands down do anything for her team.

"She's been an attacker as a freshman and a sophomore. And now as a junior we have her in more of a defensive role with a minimal amount of attacking, so that was a really fun win for us tonight and for her to get that last game point."

Rylie Bohanan led Jefferson City with 12 digs with Maassen adding 12 and Hannah Reid chipping in 10.

"We played tough and we kept balls alive," Hoffmeyer said. "You're not always going to get a beautiful dig on an attack like they present, but if you can get there and you can get touches to give our offense a chance, then we're doing our job."

Reeser finished with 23 assists, while Walters and Rhakayla Blackmon each had two blocks.

"She's one of the most athletic kids I've ever had the privilege to coach," Hoffmeyer said of Blackmon.

Jefferson City plays Tuesday at Rolla.

Ozark won the JV match 25-22, 25-11 to drop Jefferson City to 1-4.

Abby Blake finished with 13 digs and six assists, Hannah Linthacum tallied six digs, two kills and two blocks, and Ada Humphrey ended up with six kills and six digs.

Ozark also won the freshman match 25-13, 25-10 to drop Jefferson City to 1-4.

Grace Spalding led Jefferson City with 12 digs, while Lauren Reid had six digs. Elicia Theroff added three kills and two blocks.