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Clay City cruises past North Central in sectional opener
During the days leading into Thursday’s Class A White River Valley Sectional opener against North Central, a team that hadn’t won a game in nearly three weeks, Clay City volleyball head coach Asie Jeffers had one message she wanted her team to remember – do not take anything for granted in the postseason, regardless of who the opponent is across the net.
The first-year head coach was more than pleased with the way her group went about its business against the Thunderbirds, sweeping them 3-0 to advance onto Saturday’s sectional semifinal.
Jeffers pointed to the consistency of the Eels, an area they’ve struggled with for most of the fall, as the deciding factor for their three-set win that kept their season moving forward.
“I felt pretty good about tonight,” said Jeffers. “Just looking at our stats, we were much more consistent with our play. Our serve-receive was much better, which is what we need. We need to be consistent with our serve-receive in order to set up our offense. I was proud of how we played.”
Facing a team with a 2-21 record and in the midst of a five-game losing streak, Jeffers noted how pivotal the opening set was in determining their fate on Thursday.
The reasoning behind the thought? If North Central snagged the set, it would breathe life into itself and give the T-Birds a belief that they could pull the upset. On the other hand, if Clay City claimed the initial set, it would likely take the wind out of their sails and give the Eels an edge the rest of the night.
Jeffers was spot on.
While North Central did its best to push Clay City, it was the Eels that won the first set by a score of 25-19, and in doing so, laid a path toward a potential sweep, she said.
“It set everything up for us,” said Jeffers. “And really, our team needed that [first set] too. We tend to struggle whenever we drop the first or second set. It’s been a lot for us to come back from that. It’s something we’ve battled off and on all season. Our goal was to come in and not take anything for granted and put them away without letting them have any chance to come back and beat us.”
Clay City, behind the dominant front row of Emma Baumgartner, Lillian Dewey and Mallori Bettenbrock, as well as outside hitters Lizzy Sinders and Marley Rea who contributed to the cause with multiple kills apiece, cruised through the final two sets, winning by respective scores of 25-11 and 25-17 to finish off the sweep and hand Jeffers her first career postseason victory.
With the win, Clay City advanced onto Saturday afternoon’s sectional semifinal where Shakamak, which defeated Dugger Union by a score of 3-0 in the second of Thursday’s opening round matchups, awaits. It’ll mark the second time the pair of longtime rivals will see each other in a 12-day span.
And if it’s anything like their first meeting – the Lakers defeated the Eels in five sets – which is what Jeffers said she’s anticipating, those in attendance will be in for a show.
“I’m imagining it’ll be similar to what our in-season game was like,” Jeffers said. “It’s always fun and always intense. There’s an old school rivalry with Shakamak, which both schools get into. I’m hoping we keep our spirits up and keep doing what we did tonight.”