The Jefferson City Lady Jays have always been able to rely on their defense on the volleyball court this season.
When their offense is at full strength, as it was Tuesday night, it can be just as dominant.
"It finally feels like we're clicking and putting it all back together," Lady Jays coach Lisa Hoffmeyer said after a 25-23, 22-25, 25-12, 25-18 win against the Blair Oaks Lady Falcons at Fleming Fieldhouse. "We've worked through a lot of those lineup changes and different rotations night after night.
"Now we're starting to find that groove to be able to create a little bit more consistency."
Blair Oaks was constantly digging itself out of a hole against Jefferson City, trailing 8-0 in the first set, 7-1 in the second and 9-2 in the third.
"We thought our serve was the game-changer, the 'make or break' tonight," Hoffmeyer said.
In the first set, after Claire Stegeman rolled off seven straight service points for the Lady Jays, Blair Oaks battled back, getting a pair of kills from Elsie Villmer and Autumn Bax to make the score 13-10. Another kill by Villmer, an attack error by Jefferson City and a kill by Sarah Girard erased the deficit, giving the Lady Falcons a 19-18 edge.
"I'm not sure why that's the way we're rolling these last couple of games," Blair Oaks coach Megan Distler said. "They're definitely making it harder on themselves, but they keep fighting."
Jefferson City took the lead back at 22-21 following a kill by Sarah Linthacum and an ace by Sydney Vogt. The Lady Jays ended the set on a 3-1 run, capped by a kill from Kayla Walters.
"It's nice to get that first one," Hoffmeyer said.
Walters had three kills on the Lady Jays first eight points in the second set. Blair Oaks trailed 12-6 before storming back once again.
The Lady Falcons tied the score at 14, then 15, then 17 and 20, before taking a 24-21 lead following a Jefferson City service error, a block by Alyssa Hargus and a kill by Girard.
Girard then finished off the set with another kill to even the match at one set each.
But in the third set, there was no comeback from Blair Oaks. While the Lady Falcons closed the gap to 14-10, the Lady Jays answered with an 8-0 run to take control for a 2-1 lead.
"Once we got into the third set and the fourth set, we stopped communicating on the court, we stopped bringing some of that energy," Distler said.
Rhakala Blackmon led Jefferson City with five kills in that set.
"We had that early energy," Hoffmeyer said. "Once we've earned the momentum, we had to make sure we maintained it."
Blair Oaks led 3-1 in the fourth set after an ace by Payton Mitchell, then went ahead 5-2 after a kill by Villmer. But it quickly became a back-and-forth battle that shifted Jefferson City's way.
After back-to-back blocks by Villmer and Girard put Blair Oaks ahead 14-13, Jefferson City took seven of the next 10 points and never trailed again.
"I thought we were so close," Distler said, "especially if our blockers could stay big up there and keep shutting them down. I really liked our chances to go five sets."
Jefferson City ended the fourth set on a 5-0 to earn its second straight win against Blair Oaks.
"Our biggest hope from a night like tonight is to gain momentum moving forward," Hoffmeyer said.
Walters led the Lady Jays with 13 kills, followed by Linthacum with 11 and Blackmon with nine. Paige Reeser finished with 38 assists and Vogt tallied 31 digs.
Blackmon and Linthacum each had three blocks.
"I think we had a couple of very special individual efforts," Hoffmeyer said. "Sydney Vogt really stepped up for us on defense, she was taking away the short half of the court. Paige did a really nice job of feeding our middle hitters tonight."
Bax, who has emerged as a left-handed opposite hitter on Blair Oaks' front line, had a team-high 12 kills. Girard had eight kills and Villmer finished with seven.
"Autumn has been a really nice addition to our team since midseason when we called her up," Distler said. "She adds a whole different dynamic, being a 6-foot lefty."
Madi Rissmiller and Emily Tellman had 19 and 15 assists, respectively, while Mitchell finished with 19 digs.
Jefferson City (13-12-1) will host Battle tonight in a makeup contest. The freshman and JV matches start at 5 p.m., followed by varsity at 6:15 p.m.
"They can definitely be a dangerous team coming up in districts," Distler said of Jefferson City.
Blair Oaks (23-7) will wrap up the regular season tonight at Helias. The freshman and JV matches start at 5 p.m., followed by varsity at 6:15 p.m.
"Nothing like ending our regular season against three Class 5 teams," Distler said.
In the JV match, Blair Oaks beat Jefferson City 27-25, 25-20.
Bailey Braun had six kills and 10 digs for Blair Oaks (24-0-1), while Libby Juergensmeyer had 19 assists. Anna Wekenborg added four blocks.
Elicia Theroff had seven kills to lead Jefferson City (14-10-4) and Hannah Vogt tallied 24 assists. Jada Murray chipped in six digs.
Blair Oaks also won the freshman match 17-25, 25-15, 25-22 to improve to 14-8-2.
Amber Samson and Brooke Lehmen each had four kills for the Lady Falcons. Kassidy Wankum finished with five digs.