JUDA - Junior outside hitter Sara Jordan is well aware that if the Juda volleyball team wants to get to the top of the Six Rivers East Conference it has to knock off Monticello.
The power hitting of Jordan, who had a team-high nine kills, and scrappy defensive play led Juda to a sweep of Monticello 25-16, 25-14, 25-17 Thursday.
With the win, Juda (3-1,
1-0 Six Rivers East) snapped the Ponies' 32-match conference winning streak.
"We knew coming in that they (Monticello) had won 32 straight matches," Jordan said. "We all decided we wanted to be the one to end it. It feels great."
Juda coach Scott Anderson was excited to see his team get over the hump and finally beat Monticello.
"Any time you beat Monticello, it's a big victory," Anderson said. "We kept the ball in play and really limited our hitting mistakes. We did a nice job of digging. We are short so we have to dig. We will just try to build on this."
Jordan worked on fine-tuning her hitting fundamentals over the summer.
"This summer we started playing in the Monroe league, and I wasn't very good," Jordan said. "I just kept practicing. It took a while. About two weeks in, I got it down. I'm more confident, and I have worked with my setters more."
Anderson liked Jordan's aggressiveness at the net and her decision-making.
"She (Jordan) stepped up tonight," Anderson said. "She has been working hard in practice on her hitting. Sara made great decisions on every one of her attacks."
Jordan's power hitting was on display from the start. The Panthers stormed out to an 18-10 lead in the first set sparked by junior Chelsea Burkhalter's eight straight service points that included one ace. Jordan had two kills during the spurt and a third spike that went off the hands of Monticello junior Brittany Disch who was looking to come away with a block.
Juda junior Alexis Goecks delivered a kill to force a sideout at the start of the second set. Sophomore teammate Mackenzie Byrne went on a four-point run from the service line and notched one ace to give the Panthers a 7-1 lead.
After the Ponies cut the Panthers' lead to 13-10, Juda closed the door. Byrne and Jordan each hammered kills to extend the Panthers' lead to 16-10. Juda senior Robyn Wahl helped clinch the set with six consecutive service points that gave the Panthers a 21-10 lead.
Monticello (1-2, 1-1 Six Rivers East) last lost a match to Black Hawk in 2012. After graduating every starter from a team that won the conference for the second straight season last year, the Ponies are relying on two freshmen and two sophomores playing more.
"The streak is over now," Monticello coach Scott Smice said. "They can breathe a little now. Now we can start another streak."
Juda senior Megan Powers had a team-high 17 assists, and Byrne notched 12 assists and added four aces. Goecks racked up 18 digs.
The Ponies had just seven kills. Monticello junior Jessie Garrison had a team-high 12 assists and two aces.
"I don't think they lost any confidence," Smice said of the Ponies' attackers. "They were playing it not to win. They were playing it safe. They were playing timid. I'm not going to take anything away from Juda. They have a really scrappy team.
"Juda is playing with a lot of confidence. They are a little unconventional because they block with one and dig with five. They try to beat you by digging it out and they almost did that to us last year in five sets in the regional when we had some of the best hitters in the area. They will probably be in the top half of the conference this year."
The Panthers jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the final set. Jordan had four straight service points and one ace.
After the Ponies forced a sideout, Monticello junior Marissa Peterson delivered an ace. Garrison had two aces to slice the Panthers' lead to 12-10. However, that was as close as the Ponies would get. Byrne had a kill to extend the Panthers' lead to 16-12. Monticello junior Megan Lehr hammered a spike to cut the Panthers' lead to 16-13. The Panthers got an ace from Goecks and a block from Wahl to take a 21-15 lead they wouldn't relinquish.
Smice said the downfall for the Ponies was their serve receive and passing.
"I have talked about serve reception before," Smice said. "We didn't do a good job with serve receive. I think we were just content to get the volleyball up. Any volleyball coach will tell you if you don't serve receive and have good passing it won't matter how good your hitters and setters are. We are trying to find the best six to seven kids we can put on the floor at the same time."
The power hitting of Jordan, who had a team-high nine kills, and scrappy defensive play led Juda to a sweep of Monticello 25-16, 25-14, 25-17 Thursday.
With the win, Juda (3-1,
1-0 Six Rivers East) snapped the Ponies' 32-match conference winning streak.
"We knew coming in that they (Monticello) had won 32 straight matches," Jordan said. "We all decided we wanted to be the one to end it. It feels great."
Juda coach Scott Anderson was excited to see his team get over the hump and finally beat Monticello.
"Any time you beat Monticello, it's a big victory," Anderson said. "We kept the ball in play and really limited our hitting mistakes. We did a nice job of digging. We are short so we have to dig. We will just try to build on this."
Jordan worked on fine-tuning her hitting fundamentals over the summer.
"This summer we started playing in the Monroe league, and I wasn't very good," Jordan said. "I just kept practicing. It took a while. About two weeks in, I got it down. I'm more confident, and I have worked with my setters more."
Anderson liked Jordan's aggressiveness at the net and her decision-making.
"She (Jordan) stepped up tonight," Anderson said. "She has been working hard in practice on her hitting. Sara made great decisions on every one of her attacks."
Jordan's power hitting was on display from the start. The Panthers stormed out to an 18-10 lead in the first set sparked by junior Chelsea Burkhalter's eight straight service points that included one ace. Jordan had two kills during the spurt and a third spike that went off the hands of Monticello junior Brittany Disch who was looking to come away with a block.
Juda junior Alexis Goecks delivered a kill to force a sideout at the start of the second set. Sophomore teammate Mackenzie Byrne went on a four-point run from the service line and notched one ace to give the Panthers a 7-1 lead.
After the Ponies cut the Panthers' lead to 13-10, Juda closed the door. Byrne and Jordan each hammered kills to extend the Panthers' lead to 16-10. Juda senior Robyn Wahl helped clinch the set with six consecutive service points that gave the Panthers a 21-10 lead.
Monticello (1-2, 1-1 Six Rivers East) last lost a match to Black Hawk in 2012. After graduating every starter from a team that won the conference for the second straight season last year, the Ponies are relying on two freshmen and two sophomores playing more.
"The streak is over now," Monticello coach Scott Smice said. "They can breathe a little now. Now we can start another streak."
Juda senior Megan Powers had a team-high 17 assists, and Byrne notched 12 assists and added four aces. Goecks racked up 18 digs.
The Ponies had just seven kills. Monticello junior Jessie Garrison had a team-high 12 assists and two aces.
"I don't think they lost any confidence," Smice said of the Ponies' attackers. "They were playing it not to win. They were playing it safe. They were playing timid. I'm not going to take anything away from Juda. They have a really scrappy team.
"Juda is playing with a lot of confidence. They are a little unconventional because they block with one and dig with five. They try to beat you by digging it out and they almost did that to us last year in five sets in the regional when we had some of the best hitters in the area. They will probably be in the top half of the conference this year."
The Panthers jumped out to a 10-4 lead in the final set. Jordan had four straight service points and one ace.
After the Ponies forced a sideout, Monticello junior Marissa Peterson delivered an ace. Garrison had two aces to slice the Panthers' lead to 12-10. However, that was as close as the Ponies would get. Byrne had a kill to extend the Panthers' lead to 16-12. Monticello junior Megan Lehr hammered a spike to cut the Panthers' lead to 16-13. The Panthers got an ace from Goecks and a block from Wahl to take a 21-15 lead they wouldn't relinquish.
Smice said the downfall for the Ponies was their serve receive and passing.
"I have talked about serve reception before," Smice said. "We didn't do a good job with serve receive. I think we were just content to get the volleyball up. Any volleyball coach will tell you if you don't serve receive and have good passing it won't matter how good your hitters and setters are. We are trying to find the best six to seven kids we can put on the floor at the same time."
