It was a dominant night for the Jefferson City Lady Jays.
"We came out ready to take care of our side of the net," Jefferson City coach Ali Eskens said. "Tonight we took care of the little things and we were able to come together."
All those little things built up to a 25-13, 25-18, 25-22 sweep of the Capital City Lady Cavaliers. It was just the second time the new crosstown rivals faced off, and the first time at Fleming Fieldhouse. The Lady Jays swept last year's Central Missouri Activities Conference matchup at Capital City.
The Lady Jays opened with a 7-0 run on the strength of Hannah Vogt's serve, gaining points on two service aces and an Elicia Theroff blocking ace.
One point after Grace Marshall used one of her co-team high six assists to assist Reagan Carel on a kill to give the Lady Cavaliers their first point, Abby Blake notched a kill for the Lady Jays to bring the serve back to Jefferson City.
The Lady Jays built a 12-1 advantage, then a missed serve rotated the Lady Cavaliers behind the line.
Vogt used one of her co-game-high 11 assists to help Brianna Avey on a kill to regain control, where Blake served two of her game-high five aces to build a 16-2 lead.
The Lady Cavaliers fought back within 16-5 after Julia Kollmeyer served back-to-back aces, but Jefferson City took back the serve and maintained its advantage.
The teams swapped points to get to 20-7, then Maddie Mitchell used one of her co-game-high 11 assists to lead to one of Claire Stegeman's co-team high six kills to put the Lady Jays up 21-7.
Ava Meinhardt recorded back-to-back kills for the Lady Cavaliers, two of her game-high seven, to get Capital City within 23-11, but two missed serves from the Lady Cavaliers ended the opening set.
"We need to minimize our errors," Capital City coach Kelsey Vogler said. "We had six errors in a row in the first set. If we want a chance to compete, a chance to win, we have to minimize our errors. Because we were giving them that game. We essentially handed them the opening game."
The Lady Cavaliers started to minimize those mistakes in the second set, but the Lady Jays were still able to build a lead early.
Jefferson City jumped ahead 5-1 after Theroff assisted Avey for a kill and Ava Reeser connected on a service ace, but the Lady Cavaliers got within 5-3 after Kollmeyer served her third ace.
The Lady Jays jumped further ahead after two more of Blake's service aces, then maintained at least a five-point lead until the Lady Cavaliers used a Jefferson City net violation and a Ruby Sprenger service ace to bring the score to 18-15.
The Lady Jays used two more service aces, one from Avey and one from Nola Borgmeyer, as well as five Lady Cavalier errors to build their second-set win.
"We did a good job of staying confident and staying calm," Eskens said. "The other team is going to make plays, they're going to get going, they're going to make plays. We were able to stay steady, stay calm and stay consistent."
Capital City took its first lead of the match early in the third set.
Meinhardt accounted for three of the team's first five points and helped build a 5-3 advantage, which the Lady Jays would tie after a Hannah Linthacum blocking ace.
Capital City built an 8-5 lead with some help from Lady Jay errors, then maintained at least a tie to 11-10 before jumping ahead 14-10.
After Carel used one of her co-team high six assists to help Meinhardt on a kill, the Lady Cavaliers led 16-13, but a string of four consecutive Capital City errors and a Blake service ace put the Lady Jays in front 19-16.
Capital City came back to tie at 21 after a Sprenger service ace, but the Lady Jays scored four of the next five points and ended the match when Emma Loesch turned a dig into an assist, helping Vogt notch a kill.
"We have work to do still," Vogler said. "Today proves that no matter how well we've been doing, how much we've improved, we still have work to do.
"No matter what happend in the first set, we can still fight. They came back, they learned, they fought back, they minimized their errors and they realized no matter what, they can compete with any team. They just have to do it."
Vogt dug out 13 spikes to complement her two ace serves, 11 assists and six kills for Jefferson City, while Mitchell added five digs and four kills to her 11 assists to help the Lady Jays.
Blake notched a game-high 21 digs, while Linthacum had four kills for Jefferson City.
Meinhardt had three blocks to complement her seven kills for Capital City, while Kiara Strayhorn had a team-high 18 digs and five kills for the Lady Cavaliers.
Marshall dished out six assists, as did Carel, while Sprenger had three blocks for Capital City.
"I think there was a little extra grit, a little extra concentration," Eskens said. "We encourage that all the time, but there's something about that crosstown rivalry that really gets us going. And tonight was our last match on our home court, I think that helped us out, too."
Capital City (5-10-3) plays host to Sedalia Smith-Cotton at 6 p.m. Thursday in another Central Missouri Activities Conference matchup, while Jefferson City (8-10) is off until Saturday when it goes to the Lutheran South Tournament.
Capital City came back to beat Jefferson City 25-18, 24-26, 25-22 in junior varsity action Tuesday.
Aslyn Marshall led the Lady Cavaliers with 12 kills, while Kalley Brase and Ava Stone each had seven. Brase complemented her kills with two blocks, while Stone added 23 digs to her performance, while Addison Jones dished out 27 assists and dug out 22 spikes.
Leah Warren totaled 18 digs.
Capital City's junior varsity record moves to 14-7-2 with the win.
Jefferson City swept 25-17, 25-10 during freshman action Tuesday.
Myla Wilson and Layla Hess each had two kills for the Lady Cavaliers, while Aidyn Honse dished out four assists. Carmen Hill dug out 10 spikes, while Wilson and Hess each served one ace and Heidi Driver had one block.
Captial City's record moves to 9-7-3.