The bad news for the Jefferson City Lady Jays is they never got much of a run going Thursday night. The good news is neither did the Hermann Lady Bearcats.
The Lady Jays spread it around on their attack and held off the Lady Bearcats just enough in each set to win 25-23, 25-21, 25-22 at Fleming Fieldhouse.
"I feel like our kids are tough and willing to compete at a high level consistently," Lady Jays coach Lisa Hoffmeyer said. "We're able to kind of ride those waves, the highs and lows."
Jefferson City's largest deficit against the defending Class 2 state champions was three.
The Lady Jays took a timeout when they fell behind 17-14 in the opening set and Rhakala Blackmon came out of it with one of her four blocks on the night.
Sarah Linthacum added two blocks.
"I think they're seeing the whole court a little bit better," Hoffmeyer said. "They're able to slow down their their attack over there and also create a little offense on our end."
Kayla Walters placed a ball in the back corner for a kill for a 20-18 lead and Blackmon made it 24-22 when she slapped one past the block.
Walters closed out the first set with a kill to the back line. Walters had 14 kills, Blackmon and Claire Stegeman added six each, and Paige Reeser got four from the setter spot.
"I thought Paige did an outstanding job moving the ball around," Hoffmeyer said. "Got the right side involved more than we ever have typically done in the past, so that was a really good thing.
"I think we're starting to get a whole lot more comfortable with our two middles, Sarah Linthacum and Rhakala Blackmon, getting them involved in the game."
Reeser, who had 27 assists and 15 digs, got Stegeman involved on the right side.
Stegeman put one over for an 8-7 lead in the second set and later extended the lead to 16-11 with a kill.
The set concluded with Stegeman using two hands to softly bump the ball between a pair of Hermann players to give the Lady Jays a two-set lead.
Stegeman also had 11 digs to tie libero Sydney Vogt for the second-most on the team for the match.
Jefferson City didn't trail in the third set until a Grace Winkelmann kill made it 17-16 Hermann.
"Had a hard time stopping the Winkelmann girl in the front row," Hoffmeyer said. "I think that's pretty consistent wherever she goes. She's kind of one of those special athletes."
The Lady Jays' deficit never grew to more than two in the final set and they took the lead for good at 22-21.
Ada Humphrey closed out the match by smacking the ball just in front of the Hermann defense in the back corner for a kill.
Jefferson City (2-1) is off until Thursday when the Lady Jays travel to Ozark.
The Lady Jays also added a home tournament to their schedule for Saturday, Sept. 12, to replace the Hillcrest Tournament. Jefferson City will host Ozark, Rock Bridge, Hermann, Warrenton and Owensville.