OSAGE BEACH - The Jefferson City volleyball team is peaking at the right time.
A team led by a number of underclassmen dominated the final two sets against the Bolivar Lady Liberators after dropping the second set Tuesday night to win the Class 4 District 10 Tournament title 25-14, 19-25, 25-14, 25-11.
"They're playing the best they've played all year right now, and that to me is the most important thing," Lady Jays coach Ali Eskens said.
The two-setter offense got rolling behind Maddie Mitchell and Hannah Vogt. Mitchell was a do-everything catalyst with a team-high 15 kills, 12 assists, and 20 digs, while Vogt controlled the offense well with a team-high 22 assists, 12 digs and six kills. Each also added a block.
Vogt and Mitchell used their versatility to set out of the middle or play as outside hitters during some rotations to combine with the Lady Jays' middle and outside hitters. Their versatility meant the team had at least three hitters in every rotation.
"Every time we attack the ball, we've got three people that can hit the ball 100 percent of the time," Eskens said. "Whereas if you only run with one setter, you've got three rotations where you've only got two (hitters) so you're limited on your options. Being able to use both of them to swing and to set allows us to generate more offense."
Vogt got things started with an ace on the first point of the game before Jefferson City got out to a 15-9 lead after a back-and-forth start. She also ended the set off a Mitchell assist to earn the Lady Jays a 25-14 win in the first set.
Elicia Theroff started the second set with a kill and it looked like the same story when Jefferson City got off to a 7-3 lead, but Bolivar was able to get its offense moving to come back and win the set 25-19 to tie things up.
"We kind of slowed down a little bit, we got a little bit comfortable, made a few too many errors," Eskens said. "We just weren't ready moving quickly from offense to defense, and let them take that second set because we weren't ready to go.
"I told them that this is a district championship, this is going to be some good volleyball, and they're not going to hand that game to us," Eskens added. "So I said, 'We got to come out here in set three and four and we've got to be ready to go and we can't get comfortable.'"
The Lady Jays gave their coach a resounding response behind Hannah Linthacum and Abby Blake, who each made big impacts defensively to help turn back the tide.
In longer rallies, Blake shined as the libero, getting a team-high 28 digs. She also was crucial to setting up the offense when Mitchell and Vogt were out wide, setting up players when things broke down, and getting nine assists.
"She is a huge presence for us," Eskens said. "Anytime our setters have to dig a ball, she's always in there and she's always been able to put up a good hittable ball, which allows us to get another swing out of system. That's the key to success. To get swings not only in system, but out of system as well, and she helps us a lot with that."
Blake saved multiple points with pancakes, while the Lady Jays got back on track with a 25-14 win in the third set.
Linthacum continued to get blocks and punish the Lady Liberators for putting free balls up at the net. She had two of her team-high four blocks in the fourth set with multiple kills.
Linthacum had kills to make it 8-4 and 11-4 in the fourth before a traveling student section that packed the corner of the bleachers let out a "MIZ-ZOU!" chant for the Missouri women's basketball commit. She finished with eight kills and five digs.
"Hannah being able to come in there and really get off, get up every single time is spreading out their blocks, so again it allows us to generate our offense," Eskens said.
Bri Avey and Claire Stegeman both finished with seven kills and were key to the offense in the latter stages. The Lady Jays had multiple players involved in the offense early and often with five players totaling at least five kills.
Jefferson City also stole a good amount of points at the service line, with 11 total aces. Mitchell had a team-high four while Vogt added three. Ava Reeser had two while Blake and Grace Spalding each added one. Vogt sent an ace down the sideline to her right to build a 20-9 lead in the final set.
That lead was too much for Bolivar to climb, and an error ended things at 25-11 to give Jefferson City the four-set win.
Next, Jefferson City plays at Pacific (16-12-1) in the sectional round at 6:30 p.m. Thursday.
"We came in, we came ready to go," Eskens said. "We played our hardest and the chips just fell and we came out with the win."
The team also got another addition besides its Missouri-shaped district trophy.
Assistant coach Sydney Gratz FaceTimed a cheering huddle of players after the match with some exciting news. She completed the birth of her child during the match.
"She was watching as much as she could until her little girl decided to come," Eskens said. "Now she's got a beautiful baby girl and we've got a district championship."