Lady Mules fall to formidable Jackson in straight sets

It’s not often a high school volleyball team faces a team with multiple Division I talents and it’s even less often that being a regional rival but that’s the hand the Poplar Bluff Lady Mules were dealt on Tuesday as they fell to the Jackson Indians in straight sets.

Poplar Bluff welcomed Jackson into PBHS but it was the Lady Indians that would leave with a win as they took down the Lady Mules 3-0 (25-8, 25-14, 25-6).

First-year head coach Summer Shipman said she knew the Lady Mules had a tall task in front of them but she was proud of how they battled.

“I feel like we never gave up,” she said. “We worked hard the whole time. Jackson is always a tough school. They’ve got girls already going Division I ... We switched our rotation. Instead of running a 6-2 with two setters, we were running a 5-1 with one. I feel like there were tons of positives. We didn’t let as many balls drop, we covered well. Even how we played last week, I think it was an improvement.”

Jackson jumped out and took the first set 25-8 as the Lady Mules came out more competitive in the second set and limited the Jackson win in the set to 25-14 before ended Poplar Bluff’s night 25-6 in the third.

Despite the loss on Tuesday, Shipman said they could still learn from the perennial power. One being their pace and urgency on the floor but also their defense.

“Their work ethic,” she said was what she wanted her team to notice. “They don’t let very many balls hit the floor. The way they cover on blocks, their blocking. We are decent blockers but we need to be better, we need to finish.

The Lady Mules host Bloomfield on Thursday at PBHS.