Lady Jays Compete in Conference Tournament
by Rhayna Waldner
The varsity Lady Jays finished their regular season and started off the postseason with the Mid-States Conference tournament. The games started Monday, October 23, and continued on until Thursday, October 26. Seeded 4th in the tournament, the Lady Jays played the 5th seed, Wayne, for their first game Monday night at Norfolk Catholic. Losing the close game in five sets put the Lady Jays on the other side of the bracket to play Norfolk Catholic on Tuesday at Battle Creek. Not being able to find their stride, the Lady Jays lost in four sets. Having lost these games, the Lady Jays were put into a triangular with Boone Central-Newman Grove and GACC on Thursday night in Pierce.
In the first game of the tournament, the Lady Jays faced the Wayne Blue Devils. During the first set of play, the Lady Jays and the Blue Devils battled back and forth. Brenna Collison and Grace Spieker went on serving runs to help their team get the lead they needed. At the end of the set, the Lady Jays had a 24-21 but allowed Wayne to go on a long serving run to make the score 24-25. After trading sideouts several time, the Blue Devils pulled ahead at the end to make the final score 27-29.
In the next set of the game, the Lady Jays could not find their momentum and lost 14-25. Losing this set put the Lady Jays behind the Blue Devils 0-2 in set wins.
Not ready to pack up and go home, the Lady Jays fought back in the third set. Kayla Simmons went on a serving run to start off the game and get her team a 5-0 lead. Staying ahead the rest of the set, the Lady Jays defeated the Blue Devils 25-18.
The Lady Jays were not backing down after winning the third set and won the fourth with a score of 25-16. After the Lady Jays and Blue Devils traded points back and forth to start out the set, Collison went on a long serving run to help her team get the lead they needed to win the set. Maggie Brahmer finished off the game by going on a five-point serving run. Having won this set, the Lady Jays pushed the game into a fifth set.
In the final set of the game, the Lady Jays could not get clicking and lost 9-15. Losing this game put the Lady Jays in the consolation bracket.
Individually for the first game, Brahmer led the team in kills with 20, and Meredith Fasse had 14. Collison and Kenzie Moeller each had two service aces, and Fasse, Brahmer, and Katrina Meier each had five blocks. Sidney Zimmerer had 60 digs for this game, and Maci Kroupa was right behind her at 52. Simmons had 22 assists, and Moeller had 21.
The Lady Jays’ next game in the conference tournament was played on Tuesday, October 24, in Battle Creek against Norfolk Catholic.
In the first set of play, the Lady Jays and the Knights traded points until Collison went on a four-point serving run to help her team a 16-13 lead. Unfortunately for Pierce, they were not able to keep the lead this set and lost 23-25.
Heading into the second set, the Lady Jays could not find their momentum but battled with the Knights into extra points. Not being able to pull ahead, the Lady Jays dropped the second set 24-26.
In the third set, however, the Lady Jays were not done yet and came out ready to play. With all of Pierce’s servers going on serving runs that were each worth more than three points, it gave them a lead they were able to keep the rest of the set. The final set score was 25-21.
In the final set of the game, the Lady Jays were not able to bring their momentum from the third set into the fourth and lost 19-25. Losing this game put the Lady Jays into the consolation triangular.
Individually, Brahmer led the team in kills with 13, and Collison and Kroupa each had seven. Zimmerer had two service aces, and Rhayna Waldner and Brahmer had two blocks each. Zimmerer had 64 digs, and Kroupa had 36. Simmons had 12 assists, while Grace Spieker and Moeller each had 11.
For their next games in the tournament, the Lady Jays played at home on Thursday, October 26 in a triangular with BCNG and GACC.
For the first game of the night, the Lady Jays faced the BCNG Cardinals. In the beginning of the set, the Lady Jays and the Cardinals traded points back and forth until Simmons went on a eight point serving run to get her team to 20. After this, the Lady Jays were able to finish the set strong 20-18. In the next set, the Lady Jays let up a little bit, but still managed to pull out a win with a set score of 25-24.
For their final game in the tournament, the Lady Jays played the GACC Bluejays. In the first set, the Lady Jays trailed the Bluejays until the end. Coming back from a deficit, the Lady Jays pushed the set into extra points but were not able to pull out the set and lost 24-26. In the next set, the Lady Jays came out strong with all servers going on runs of at least four points. GACC could not keep up with the Lady Jays, which left Pierce winning the set 25-11. Winning this set pushed them game into a third. After battling with GACC the entire set, the Lady Jays were not able to pull come out with a win and lost 20-25.
After the conclusion of the tournament, coach Brittany Weber said, “The conference tournament didn’t go quite how we expected, but we are excited to bounce back next week for subdistricts.”
The Lady Jays’ next game was played on Monday, October 30, against Norfolk Catholic for the first round of subdistricts.
