WARDSVILLE - The effort was there from start to finish Thursday night for the Blair Oaks volleyball team.
"We still have some little things to clean up," Lady Falcons coach Megan Distler said after a 25-14, 25-19, 25-13 Tri-County Conference win against the Hallsville Lady Indians. "Tonight, things weren't always going our way, so it was good to see us battle through that and keep working to take down a good conference opponent."
Blair Oaks only trailed for a total of three points against Hallsville, but the Lady Indians only briefly had that early lead following a pair of attack errors by the Lady Falcons to start the match.
Blair Oaks responded with kills by Sarah Girard and Bailey Braun, and an ace by Madi Rissmiller put the Lady Falcons ahead 3-2.
Hallsville finished the match with just 11 kills and eight attack errors, which kept the Blair Oaks defense plenty busy Thursday night.
"Both sides' defenses were really good," Distler said. "We were picking up a lot of balls. It just seemed very scrappy."
The Lady Indians kept close for a while in the first set, as a kill by Lauren Blakemore cut the Blair Oaks lead to 13-11.
The Lady Falcons dominated after that, as Girard answered with a kill and Braun had another kill from the back row. Blair Oaks tallied 18 kills in the opening set, ending it on a 12-3 run.
"We got into our rhythm a little bit more," Distler said. "It took us just a little bit longer tonight, the girls were able to work through some things."
Distler also liked the Lady Falcons' balanced of attack on the front row, as six players recorded at least two kills in the opening set.
"Tonight really showed that, on any given night, any of our hitters can be the one to take charge," she said.
Blair Oaks pulled away early in each of the final two sets, jumping out to a 9-1 lead in the second set and a 9-0 lead in the third.
"Being able to put pressure on teams is always good," Distler said. "That's something we've been emphasizing, and something the girls really want to do each game, to be the aggressor."
Kennedy Flanner recorded seven kills in the second set to lead the Lady Falcons.
In the third set, Hallsville (10-3-1, 2-2 Tri-County) recorded only three service points, all coming on aces.
"We had some good runs," Distler said. "Besides that in the third set, we sided out very well."
Autumn Bax and Flanner each had a team-high 12 kills for Blair Oaks, while Girard had 10 kills and Braun added seven kills. The Lady Falcons finished the night with 47 kills on their 75 points.
Rissmiller assisted on 36 of those kills, while Libby Juergensmeyer added 10 assists. Payton Mitchell recorded 16 digs and Rissmiller served four aces.
"We're definitely starting to hit our groove," Distler said.
Blair Oaks (12-2, 5-0 Tri-County) will have a chance to claim their 11th straight conference title next week with matches Monday at Southern Boone and Tuesday at Versailles.
The Lady Falcons have won 49 consecutive Tri-County matchups dating back to September 2014.
"Hopefully we can accomplish that goal of a conference championship," Distler said, "and then move on and get ready for districts, and for some other bigger goals down the road."
Blair Oaks opened Thursday's tripleheader with a 26-24 single-set freshman win.
Alyssa Henry had 12 digs for the Lady Falcons (9-4-1), while Alisa Ernst had four kills and six digs, Chloe Heislen had four kills and Lanee Briggs added six assists.
Blair Oaks also won the JV match 25-16, 26-4 to improve to 12-1.
Kenley Mitchell had a team-high 10 kills, Gabby Horn had six kills, Abbi Wieberg had five digs and Horn and Alison Sporleder added 10 and nine assists, respectively.