Jackson sweeps Notre Dame in straight sets

Things started slow, but the Jackson Indians came together to knock off the Notre Dame Bulldogs 3-0 on Thursday at Notre Dame Regional High School.

The aforementioned slow start saw the Indians fall behind 8-3 early.

“Notre Dame did a wonderful job,” Indians coach Dave Mirly said. “We couldn’t slow their middles down the first two sets. We really had to make that adjustment.”

Despite the struggle, Mirly let his team play through the slump.

“As long as we keep talking out there on the court, they make my job easy,” Mirly said. “They’ve been trained so well and they know my system so well. As long as they’re communicating, there’s not many adjustments I have to make.”

Jackson responded with a 7-0 run to take a 10-8 lead they wouldn’t relinquish in the first set.

The Indians took set 1 25-20.

“You never want to lose that first set,” Mirly said. “It sets the tone.”

Any momentum the Indians had built was quickly stifled by the Bulldogs as they came out with some momentum of their own early in set two.

“Sometimes winning that first set gets you relaxed,” Mirly said. “It was good to see us bounce back after that slow start in the second set.”

Set two was eerily similar to the first as once again, the Indians responded and took the second set 25-18.

Entering the third set up 2-0 can be tricky, and Mirly made sure to let his team know that.

“You have to win the third set,” Mirly said. “You okay to win, coach to win and take the timeouts to win. You do not want to give the other team any sort of hope.”

Mirly’s club responded as they won set 3 25-19 to win the match 3-0.

The win marked Jackson’s fourth-straight as they improve to 8-3.

“We’re starting to pass and serve much better,” Mirly said. “We also had quite a few errors in the beginning of the season and we’ve started to limit those which of course makes us a lot better team.”

Notre Dame (10-3-2) will travel to Park Hills Central at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 18 to take on the Rebels.

Jackson (8-3) hosts Cor Jesu Academy at at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 18 at Jackson High School.

“Cor Jesu will be one of the best teams to ever come to Jackson to play volleyball,” Mirly said. “That will be a fun opportunity for us.”