Blair Oaks sweeps Jefferson City in volleyball opener at new gym

Payton Mitchell of Blair Oaks dives for a ball during Tuesday night's match against Jefferson City in Wardsville.
Payton Mitchell of Blair Oaks dives for a ball during Tuesday night's match against Jefferson City in Wardsville.

WARDSVILLE - The Blair Oaks volleyball team finally took the court under the bright lights inside the more spacious, brand-new gym Tuesday at Blair Oaks High School.

The Lady Falcons christened the gym's debut with a rivalry win, sweeping the Jefferson City Lady Jays 25-13, 25-18, 25-19.

Blair Oaks opened its home season with four matches at the former high school gym - now the middle school gym - while the gym in the new high school building was being completed.

"This is something we've been looking forward to all season, getting into this gym," Blair Oaks coach Megan Distler said. "We were excited."

Jefferson City won the first point in the new gym on a kill by Jada Murray, but Blair Oaks answered with an 11-1 run.

In that span, Autumn Bax had four of her match-high 15 kills, while Kennedy Flanner also had a pair of kills.

"We came out firing on all cylinders, which is exactly what we want," Distler said. "It put the pressure on JC to respond."

The Lady Falcons cruised in the first set, as they were often on the offensive attack, tallying 15 kills. Three players also served aces before Anna Wekenborg finished the set with a kill.

The Lady Jays struggled to find the early momentum, winning points on just three of their serves.

"That's the sport: you're up and down, and it's a game of runs," Jefferson City coach Ali Eskens said. "At the end of the day, you're trying to minimize the gap between you and the other team."

Jefferson City started strong in the second set, scoring the first four points on a pair of kills by Murray and a pair of Blair Oaks attack errors.

"She came out tonight ready to go," Eskens said of Murray. "She was a big impact for us."

Blair Oaks scored the next four points, getting a pair of aces from Bailey Braun. The Lady Falcons finished the match with 10 aces.

"You just have to find a good spot, put the ball in play and keep them moving," Distler said.

The Lady Jays answered with a pair of kills by Claire Stegeman. Maddie Mitchell's kill pushed Jefferson City's lead back to 11-6.

"They were just moving the ball around really well," Distler said. "Their outside (hitters) swung really well on those first couple balls and left us scrambling a little bit more on defense."

Blair Oaks came back with a 16-5 run, as the sophomore duo of Bax and Braun combined for seven kills in that stretch.

Tuesday's match was just the second of the season for Braun, who had 10 kills and served five aces.

"Seeing her get into her groove, she's just a quiet go-getter," Distler said. "She's a subtle, consistent energy on the court."

Jefferson City held an early edge in the third set as well, getting three kills from Stegeman. The Lady Jays also showed off their front-row blocking with Hannah Linthacum, Elicia Theroff and Mitchell.

"Our front-row blocking did phenomenal," Eskens said. "It's something we've been working on a lot in practice."

Just as it had in the second set, Blair Oaks fell behind by five points at 14-9 in the third. This time, Distler did not call a timeout to regroup.

"We trust whoever is out there to be able to respond," she said.

After a Jefferson City attack error, Bax landed a kill in the back corner to cap a long volley that proved to be a huge momentum swing for Blair Oaks.

"Sometimes the ball's going to fall on our side and sometimes it's not," Eskens said. "In those long rallies, we have to do a better job of transitioning and sticking in it.

"The longer the rally goes, the more we start to fall apart, and that's just something we have to practice as a team."

A Jefferson City net violation, a kill by Braun and a block by Bax tied the set at 14. Blair Oaks would go on a 10-0 run, picking up another big point on a long volley that saw plenty of blocks by both teams and ended with a kill by Braun.

"They did a great job of blocking us, and we did a great job of recovering the ball," Distler said. "We kept swinging until Bailey got the opportunity to kill that ball."

The Lady Jays closed within three at 22-19, but a pair of Jefferson City errors and a kill by Braun ended the match.

Madi Rissmiller had a team-high 25 assists for Blair Oaks and Libby Juergensmeyer added 10 assists. Payton Mitchell came up with several clutch digs, finishing with a match-high 25, and Sarah Girard added five blocks.

For Jefferson City, Stegeman and Mitchell each had seven kills, followed by Murray with five. Theroff had three blocks, Hannah Vogt recorded a double-double of 20 assists and 11 digs and Abby Blake posted a team-high 12 assists.

Both teams are back in action Thursday, as Blair Oaks (11-2) will host Hallsville and Jefferson City (3-7) will host Fatima.

Tuesday was the Lady Jays' first match in eight days.

"We've got a chance tomorrow to get back in the gym, get after it and get ready for Thursday," Eskens said.

In the JV match, Blair Oaks defeated Jefferson City 25-12, 25-14 to improve to 11-1. Rylie Mayer had five kills for the Lady Falcons, while Alison Sporleder had 11 assists, Amber Samson had six digs and Abbi Wieberg served four aces.

Blair Oaks dropped the freshman match 15-25, 20-25 to fall to 8-4-1. Alyssa Henry had a team-high 17 digs for Blair Oaks, Anna Prenger had nine assists and Alisa Ernst and Chloe Heislen each had four kills.