JHS SPIKERS SHOW KILL-ER INSTINCT TO CAPE CENTRAL

JACKSON -- So much for mercy points.

Jackson wasted very little time - approximately 40 minutes - dismantling Cape Girardeau Central in a 15-3, 15-5 win Tuesday night at Jackson.

"That's our big rivalry," Jackson hitter Andrea Koeper said. "We have to beat them as bad as we can."

After a pair of side-outs, Chrissi Glastetter started the scoring for Jackson with a block at the net. The Indians stretched their lead to 3-0 before Kim Suzuki ended the rally with a kill for a side-out.

The Jackson lead grew to 4-0 on Sara Nothdurft's kill, assisted by setter Heather Brown. Then, a service winner from Glastetter made it 5-0.

After four side-outs, the lead grew to 11-0 in a heartbeat. Sara Johnson and Koeper started the streak with kills, then Diane Mirly delivered a pair of service winners and another pair of serves which were mishandled.

The Tigers fought off five point opportunities, while failing on five of their own, before allowing Emily Unverferth's service winner.

Koeper's dink into the center of the court on the next point made it 13-0.

"We played really well," Koeper said. "When we're playing a team that isn't at our level, we're just trying to find holes and spots."

Central scored three of the next five points, on serves by Katie Cozby and Heather Duschell, before Koeper delivered a service winner to close the first game.

In the second game, Jackson took an immediate 4-0 lead, featuring a service winner from Brown and a dink by Glastetter.

A block by Central's Ashley McElreath and a kill by Cozby warded off point scoring opportunities for Jackson, but a mishandled serve made it 5-0, and then a Koeper dink off a set from Brown gave the Indians a 6-0 second-game lead.

Jackson increased the lead to 11-1, helped by four points on Koeper's service. Central stayed in the game with strong defensive play, scoring four of the last eight points, but Jackson closed out the victory on a kill by Koeper off an assist by Casey Randol.

Central dropped to 1-6.

"We're not going so much by wins and losses," Tigers coach April Morgan-McClintock said. "In games like this, if they're working hard, I'm going to be proud of them. They didn't give up tonight, but obviously, Jackson is one of the best teams around."

Jackson, which advanced to the semifinal round of the 30-team SEMO High School Volleyball Classic before losing to Farmington last weekend, improved to 10-1.

"We just wanted to play smart and pick our spots, and we did," Brown said. "We've played together a few years. This year we have a good chance."