Jackson seniors cap home season with win

If you're a senior playing your last regular-season home game, you don't want to lose, plain and simple.

That's the motivation that propelled Jackson on Thursday when the Indians took down district volleyball rival Poplar Bluff 15-10, 8-15, 15-6.

The senior-led Indians, 21-9-2 and ranked No. 6 in the SEMO Top 10, battled through the first set, struggled in the second and were rejuvenated somewhere in the middle of the third set.

The squads were tied at 10 in the first set before Jackson senior Jenna Leet took over and served the match's final four points.

The complete opposite occurred in the second set. The Mules took the lead at 6-5 and never looked back, cruising to a smooth 15-8 defeat to even the match.

Poplar Bluff, 20-9 and No. 10 in the SEMO Top 10, kept the momentum and went up quickly in the third set.

With her Indians trailing 6-4, Jackson coach Nancy Ellis called a timeout. It proved to be the turning point in the match.

"I asked the girls if they wanted it," Ellis said. "It was the seniors' last game in our gym and we started playing like it."

Out of the timeout, the Indians got their game together and the match was all but over.

"Volleyball is a momentum game and we just lost the momentum for a while," Ellis said. "We didn't pass the ball, but when we did, we didn't have a set. When we had a set, we didn't have a hit."

Momentum played a key as the Indians livened up and scored the match's final points. The Indians tore through the final set, sending Poplar Bluff home on an 11-0 scoring streak.

"We didn't play our match entirely tonight," Ellis said. "We played up and down, but we were able to get the job done in the end."

Jackson seniors did the majority of the job on their farewell night. Jenna Leet had seven digs and seven blocks, while Jessica Koeper had eight assists to go along with six blocks. Courtney Vance also had a hand in scoring five assists.

Junior Linden Haas contributed 10 digs and three kills.