Jackson falls in championship

~ The Indians advanced to the title game for the first time since 2009

The Jackson volleyball team knew it'd take a lot to defeat three-time defending district champion Farmington.

The Indians came up with big plays to keep the match close, but Farmington always had an answer in Jackson's 25-18, 25-15 loss in the Class 4 District 1 volleyball championship Wednesday.

"Volleyball's a game of just ups and downs and things that you just can't control and a lot of the stuff that the points that they were getting, they just weren't falling our way," Jackson senior Hailey Mouser said. "I feel like there wasn't really specifically one thing that we weren't doing right."

Second-year Jackson coach Julie Brandmeyer agreed that her players didn't struggle with any one thing in particular and said she felt that her team's communication was the best it had been all season, but things just didn't turn out as planned.

"I thought tonight our girls played tremendously hard," Brandmeyer said. "The score doesn't always show that, but those here tonight could see that easily. Defensively we played fantastic. We played incredibly hard, and I'm just so proud of my girls. I mean, although it's second place, I couldn't have asked for a better group of girls."

Jackson’s Hannah Hunt attempts a spike against Farmington’s Sydney Savage during the second game of the Class 4 District 1 championship Wednesday in Jackson. (Fred Lynch)

Jackson (12-19-3) started the first game with a 2-0 lead. A double block from Mouser and McKenzie Scott opened the game, followed by a Farmington hitting error. The Knights went on a 9-3 run before Jackson called its first timeout.

The Indians pulled it within one with a kill from Autumn Reid to make it 13-12 but never got any closer.

"We'd earn one point, they would earn two," Brandmeyer said. "We talked about earning our points tonight, not letting them make the mistakes for us and giving us points -- we wanted to make sure we took control of our own points. But like I said, we scored one, and they scored two.

"We always kept expecting us to make a run. Traditionally, we do that with serving -- we're a pretty strong serving team -- but the run never came. Farmington did a great job getting that sideout point."

Jackson's Kayla Thurman came up with an ace to make it 22-18 but a lift call on the Indians and two Farmington kills closed out the game.

After scoring the first point of Game 2 on a kill by Reid, Jackson was outscored 6-1 before calling a timeout.

The Indians pulled within two, but a block that landed on their side of the net, a block that went out of bounds, a player in the net and a Farmington ace put Farmington ahead 11-5.

Jackson looked like it may make a run after an ace by Reid made it 18-12, but a service error, and two hitting errors quickly extinguished that thought, and Farmington went on to take the match.

"I just don't think that we kept the momentum in our hand," Jackson senior Chelsea Fowler said. "We were just too nervous about it and just didn't play to our full potential. We did great, but we could've done better."

Jackson was led by Reid with five kills and one ace. Fowler had eight digs, three kills, three assists and one block. Mouser had five digs, two blocks and two kills.

No. 3 seed Jackson, which upset No. 2 Poplar Bluff in the semifinal round, had not competed in a volleyball district championship since they won it in 2009.

"It just says a lot about our girls," Brandmeyer said. "They played tremendously hard. We worked hard all summer and the commitment level of our Jackson program is remarkable and each year we're going to get better and better. My senior leadership this year was fantastic, and I know that that's why our team chemistry was so strong with this group because I thought Hailey Mouser and Chelsea Fowler were exceptional."