With a shifted lineup, Jefferson City sweeps Capital City in volleyball

Ada Humphrey of Jefferson City dives to the floor for a dig during Tuesday night's match against Capital City at Capital City High School.
Ada Humphrey of Jefferson City dives to the floor for a dig during Tuesday night's match against Capital City at Capital City High School.

The first meeting between Capital City and Jefferson City on the volleyball court was a bit of a hodgepodge for both teams, but they made the best of the situation and got the crosstown rivalry rolling.

"It's something they've been talking about for a long time," Lady Jays coach Lisa Hoffmeyer said following the team's 25-16, 25-22, 25-13 victory Tuesday against the Lady Cavaliers at Capital City High School. " A lot of them played together and have a few more connections than the others, but I think it's definitely an exciting crosstown rival game for them. The climate of that is only gonna build year after year after year."

Jefferson City took control early in the first set with five straight points after a 2-1 deficit.

Paige Reeser and Sydney Vogt, both playing in different roles with a few teammates unavailable, went on the attack.

Reeser had kills at 4-2 and 8-3, while Vogt went back-to-back with kills for a 10-4 advantage.

"That's kind of something that we were excited about finally getting to use her in that role a little bit," Hoffmeyer said of Reeser, who's usually the team's setter. " She is a wonderful attacker, she's a wonderful defender too. If we could use her in serve-receive all year long we would love to have her back there."

Reeser led Jefferson City with nine kills and tied for the team lead with 12 assists as well.

Vogt has traded in her libero jersey for a chance to hit from the outside. She tallied seven kills and a team-high 14 digs.

"Sydney's such a smart kid and that's why she ends up in that role," Hoffmeyer said. " She's an intelligent enough player and understands the game well enough that she can find ways to score points for us."

The Lady Jays kept it rolling in the first set, as Claire Stegeman had four of her eight kills in the opening set. Her fourth started a 3-0 run that concluded the set.

Capital City once again got out to a 2-1 lead in the second set, but this time they kept it going.

A Kiara Strayhorn kill made it 3-1 and a pair of attacking errors for the Lady Jays led to a 5-2 start.

Stegeman tied it at 5 with a kill before Strayhorn put Capital City back ahead with another kill.

Kiara and Kloey Strayhorn each had five kills for Capital City.

With the Lady Cavaliers missing a few starters Tuesday, Kiara Strayhorn, a junior, stepped up to the task of being more of a leader on the floor.

"I think she finally felt like she needed to take that role and step up for her team, and she did it tonight," Capital City coach Kelsey Vogler said. "She started every play. She finished it. Whenever you get her the ball, she does her job."

The teams continued to trade blows in the second set.

Sydney Vogt put Jefferson City ahead 8-7 with back-to-back aces. Reagan Carel knotted it up at 9 with a kill for the Lady Cavs and Kiara Strayhorn tied it at 16 with a kill.

"The girls started doing everything that we have talked about," Vogler said. "They were stepping up as leaders, they're stepping up on defense, on swinging. They were, in all aspects of the game, trying to play together as a team to overcome our deficit."

The difference came on a 4-0 run, capped by a Reeser kill, to make it 23-21 Lady Jays.

Jefferson City then scored the first three points of the third set, including two of Hannah Vogt's six aces.

Vogt took over the setter role, tying for a team-high 12 assists and adding 11 digs.

"She's ready to play at this level," Hoffmeyer said, "which is pretty impressive for a freshman to not only physically be there but mentally she is capable of shouldering that load of being a setter at the varsity level."

A Sydney Vogt kill capped off a 4-0 run for a 21-9 lead and the Central Missouri Activities Conference match concluded with an Abby Farris ace.

Carel led Capital City with 16 assists, Duran Earleywine had 12 digs and Michelyn Appiah tallied four blocks.

Jefferson City (5-6-1) will host Fatima on Thursday. The freshman and JV matches will start at 5 p.m. with the varsity playing at 6 p.m. at Fleming Fieldhouse.

Capital City (0-14-1) will play Thursday at Sedalia Smith-Cotton.

Jefferson City defeated Capital City 25-12, 25-10 in the JV match.

Lauren Reid had six assists, two kills and two aces for Jefferson City.

Capital City defeated Jefferson City 15-24, 26-24, 15-13 in the freshman match.

Emma Winchester tallied six digs, five aces and five kills for the Lady Jays.