The Paxton volleyball team turned to sophomores Audrey Holm and Jacelyn Jorgensen and senior Josie Callihan to close out Arthur County 25-20, 22-25, 25-11 in the final match of the Tigers’ home Triangular on Tuesday.
Holm led the team with 14 kills and four aces, Jorgensen added 12 kills and three aces and Callihan had five kills and an ace in the win.
“They usually get a block or a kill and it really changes the momentum of the game,” Paxton coach Lisa Mitchell said. “If it’s not going in our favor, they get that changed and turned around in our favor. And they’re just very aggressive at the net, that always makes a difference.”
Paxton started to pull away early in the first set with Holm’s block giving the Tigers a 4-3 lead, and Jorgensen collected three of the next four points. Paxton then went on an 8-2 run to take a commanding 15-6 lead.
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But with the Paxton lead at 21-12, Arthur County started to make a comeback. The Wolves scored the next three points, then traded points with the Tigers to reach 24-17.
Arthur County pulled to within four at 24-20, but a Paxton timeout followed by a Callihan kill ended the set at 25-20.
“We just talked about controlling the tempo of that game,” Mitchell said.
The Wolves used that momentum to stick with the Tigers in the second set, and eventually took a lead 14-13. A 5-1 run gave Arthur County a bit of separation in the middle of the set.
A Catherine Vasa kill gave Arthur County the set after Paxton had pulled to within two at 24-22.
“We stopped moving our feet, and we were hesitating,” Mitchell said. “We didn’t have effective communication on the court, so we were really delayed and didn’t do what we needed to do.”
Paxton opened the third set with five consecutive points off three Holm aces and two Jorgensen kills, but Arthur County quickly tied the set at 6-6.
Everything went Paxton’s way after that. The Tigers went on a seven-point run to go up 13-6, and Arthur County never recovered. Paxton cruised to a 25-11 win that saw Jorgensen notch the final three points with kills.
“I thought they played really well,” Mitchell said. “They kind of had some rocky moments, but overall, they came out and they played hard, they were aggressive at the net and took care of business with what we needed to do.”
Paxton 2, Sandhills/Thedford 0
Paxton swept Sandhills/Thedford 25-17, 25-15 in the opening match of the Paxton Tri.
The Tigers took a 15-8 lead in the first set, and the Knights couldn’t recover. That seven-point lead soon turned into a 10-point one at 21-11. Sandhills/Thedford scored four of the next five points to pull back to within seven, but Paxton closed out the set 25-17.
Sandhills/Thedford controlled most of the early stages of set 2, but fell behind after Paxton went on a 6-0 lead to take a 17-12 advantage. The Tigers won the second set 25-15.
Arthur County 2, Sandhills/Thedford 0
Arthur County swept Sandhills/Thedford 26-24, 25-11 in the second match of the Paxton Tri.
The Wolves went on a 10-2 run to open the first set, but the Knights responded with a run of their own to pull within one at 10-9.
Both teams traded points, but Arthur County held the lead until Sandhills/Thedford gained the advantage at 21-20. The Wolves scored the next three points to go up 23-21, then the Knights tied it with the next two. Arthur County scored the final two points in a 24-24 game to win the first set.
Sandhills/Thedford had nothing left. Arthur County opened the second set by scoring the first 10 points en route to a 25-11 win.