Jackson Tournament brings in regional volleyball powers for showdown

Some of the best volleyball teams in the region descended upon Jackson High School on Saturday, Oct. 7 as the Indians played host to 11 other teams in the Jackson Tournament.

With each team playing five games against its pool and a final match against the team that placed equal to them in the opposite pool, all 12 teams got a six-game slate for the day. While some teams played up, a handful had tough days in the tournament.

Hosting Jackson made the most of its day, winning 8 of 10 pool play sets to take second place in its pool. After splitting two pool play matches with Nerinx Hall and Saxony Lutheran, the Indians went undefeated by downing Advance (25-15, 26-20) in the third-place game.

Going 4-0-2 in the Jackson Tournament, the Indians improved their season record to 24-6-3 with a dominant showing at home.

“We really played very sharp every single set,” Jackson coach Dave Mirly said. “We had a couple of moments in the two sets that we lost that cost us a chance to play for a championship.

“It's a great learning experience for us because, you know, down the road come postseason play, we’ve got to be sharp the whole time. We can't have letdowns. Hopefully, we've learned from that and we’re better for it in the postseason.”

Incarnate Word Academy made the trip down from St. Louis to participate in the tournament. The Red Knights dominated competition, never losing a set after going on to sweep Nerinx Hall in the championship game.

Now 23-8-1, Incarnate Word Academy faced its toughest test of the day with a pool play matchup against Advance. The Red Knights, known for being one of the best teams in Missouri, won sets at 25-19 and 25-22 against the Class 1 Advance Hornets.

Advance finished second in its pool, losing twice to eventual tournament champions of Incarnate Word Academy while splitting a series with Kirkwood.

Going on to lose to Jackson in the third-place game, Advance made a big statement by going 3-2-1 against a tough field. Having won state championships in four of the past five seasons, the Hornets continue to improve their standing ahead of the state tournament.

“The big thing is that we always look forward to this tournament,” Advance coach Erin Hoffman said. “Every team here is a solid team and every single game is challenging. We really enjoy coming to this tournament to really see what we're made of.”

Saxony Lutheran’s day saw the Crusaders win 4 of 10 pool play sets, facing a tough pool including Jackson and Nerinx Hall. While splitting with the Indians, the Crusaders entered the championship rounds in the ninth-place game after finishing fifth in their pool.

Despite this, Saxony Lutheran made the most of the appearance with a dominant sweep against Arcadia Valley, winning 2-0 after 25-19 and 25-21 set wins.

The Crusaders have solidified themselves as one of the premier teams in the SEMO Conference this season, and their tournament run will help to round the team out for upcoming district play.

“The girls fight with every game,” Saxony Lutheran coach Stephanie Brown said. “Even in our first match against Lindbergh, we only lost by two in the first set and three in the second set. A lot of our matches were close. Against Nerinx Hall, it was close.

“I'm proud of the girls the way they battled all day, they just did a phenomenal job.”

Poplar Bluff couldn’t quite get its footing in pool play, finishing with a 1-9 set record. However, facing off with Lesterville in a battle of the sixth-place pool finishers, the Mules dominated.

Taking a 2-0 win against Lesterville with 25-12 and 25-19 set wins, Poplar Bluff ended its day on the right foot, leaving Jackson with a 1-4-1 record on the day.

With two pools, the tournament included Incarnate Word, Advance, Valle Catholic, Kirkwood, Arcadia Valley and Poplar Bluff in Pool A, and Nerinx Hall, Jackson, Lindbergh, Potosi, Saxony Lutheran and Lesterville in Pool B, all listed by placement.

With such a tough tournament, teams are gearing up for long postseason runs as the season comes to a head. With teams just a week removed from the start of bracket play, the Jackson Tournament couldn’t have come at a much better time.