Owls retain second place in district despite loss
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Jefferson’s loud student section, as well as a sizable crowd on the Highlands side of the gym, supplied a playoff atmosphere Tuesday in the District 28-4A season finale for both teams. The host Mustangs followed suit, delivering an impressive four-game victory.
Taking control midway through the first game and seldom yielding it, Jefferson (24-10, 12-4) defeated Highlands 25-15, 25-19, 23-25, 25-11 over the second-place Owls (20-20, 13-3). The win enabled the Mustangs to hold third place in the district. A loss would have left them vulnerable to a tie and subsequent third-place playoff game this week.
“I love my crowd,” Jefferson senior Courtney Garcia said. “I’m so happy they came out to this (match). They (encourage) us when we’re low with their enthusiasm. We play harder because of them. We realize that we can do it.”
A loss to Highlands Sept. 27, still lingered in the Mustangs’ minds. Highlands prevailed in four games at the Owls’ gym.
“They got to us the first time,” said Garcia, who finished with 20 assists. “We were not going to let them get to us again. We came in focused. We gave it our all. It was all about the simple, little things.
“We weren’t going to lose in our house. I’m so proud of my girls.”
As it turned out, though, district champion Brennan defeated Brackenridge (14-25, 10-6) 25-6, 25-9, 25-8, so those potential concerns ended up being moot.
A year ago, when the teams met at the end of the district season, fifth place was at stake. Tuesday, Jefferson coach Theresa Ralston marveled at how far each has come.
“For both of us to be in the playoffs,” Ralston said, “it’s pretty nice to see that hard work does pay off. Both of us had worked very hard in the offseason, so this is a little payoff.”
Highlands was plagued by errors, forced and unforced, throughout the match. However, the Owls broke the Mustangs’ momentum in Game 3.
Juniors Emily Pearce (19 digs) and Jenna Thompson lifted Highlands to the win. Pearce made four kills and Thompson had three blocks in the game. The Owls also set Jazmine Jackson (10 kills) on the outside for five kills in the game.
A tip by Pearce put Highlands at game point, 24-19. Then it got a little overanxious, committing three-consecutive hitting errors and a setting error. Suddenly, Jefferson was within a point.
Thompson righted the ship with a block that closed out the set.
“We still need the entire team,” Highlands coach Jaci Barrientes said. “You’re only as strong as your weakest link, and our weakest link wasn’t that strong today.”
Garcia cited the Game 3 loss as a rallying point for herself and her teammates. The Mustangs asserted themselves from the outset of the final game, which was never close after a kill from Garcia made it 4-1.
“We were not going to let it go to five games,” she said. “We were going to end it now.”
An ace from junior Gabby Vasquez and a Highlands error, followed by a kill from Krystin Garcia (11 kills) stretched Jefferson’s lead to 9-2. Courtney Garcia pounded a kill from the middle attack and Vasquez served another of her four aces to extend what turned out to be an 11-point service run.
“(Serving) really brought us momentum,” Ralston said. “We had a couple of runs that gave us the momentum to go forward. Those serving runs were important.
“The thing that was interesting is that we had more service errors than we’ve had in the past few matches. We had a couple of foot faults and some that went into the net. I’m surprised we had as many errors as we had, but we had a lot of aces in this match. With all the points we got serving-wise, it kept propelling us.”
Garcia made four kills in the decisive game.
Trailing 16-2, Highlands never got closer than 13 points the rest of the way. Setter Analisa Garza (24 assists) had a rare kill and an ace, combined with a kill from senior Melody Guzman, to close the gap a bit. Eventually, though, the Owls made errors that put Jefferson at match point and then accounted for the final point.
“We wanted to take it like that,” Ralston said of the playoff atmosphere. “We knew Highlands would come to play. We wanted to use this as preparation for the next level.”
Ralston also wanted to see playoff-caliber intensity from her team.
“Our focus was not what it needed to be against Highlands the first time,” Ralston said. “I think, this time, they had the appropriate fear. We maintained an appropriate fear for them and the kids played well.”
Highlands took a 5-2 lead in Game 1 on an almost unintentional kill from Jackson. Jefferson ran off the next five points, including a go-ahead kill from Vasquez. The Owls recovered to tie it 10-10, but their errors and the occasional well-placed Jefferson kill allowed the Mustangs to pull away.
“We were definitely going to protect our house,” Ralston said. “It was a good win.”
A soft kill from Genesis Garcia stretched the Mustangs’ lead to 19-14. Smart hits around Highlands block attempts helped fuel Jefferson.
“We’ve been practicing that,” Courtney Garcia said. “We knew, coming in, what they’d do. They have a very good outside hitter (Jackson), and we needed to keep the ball away from her. We needed to go around their block or go through their block, anything we could do to get the win.”
A block from Jefferson’s Melanie Sheppard made it 22-14. A jump-serve ace from Vasquez put the Mustangs at game point and Sheppard struck in the middle attack for the final point.
Vasquez contributed a kill and a block as the Mustangs jumped out to a 5-1 lead in Game 2. Highlands tied it 6-6 on a kill from Jackson, in the midst of a four-point run. The Owls took the lead on an ace from Jenna Thompson and built it to 10-7 on a block from Pearce.
Jefferson tied the score twice before getting traction. A kill and an ace from Krystin Garcia helped give the Mustangs the lead to stay. Senior Melanie Ybarra, who led the Mustangs with 15 digs, served three aces and Highlands had an error as the lead grew to 23-16.
“The biggest thing is that we just didn’t have everybody come to play,” Barrientes said. “We had two people who stepped up last time, but didn’t tonight. We didn’t make adjustments the way we needed to. (Jefferson) made adjustments on the court.”
Sheppard made a kill off a slide to put the Mustangs at game point, 24-16. Highlands rallied to within five, however, with Jackson putting down a kill at the end of a long point, despite spectacular digs by Vasquez and Ybarra. However, Genesis Garcia provided Jefferson with a 2-0 lead on her third kill of the game.
“Throughout the course of the season,” Ralston said, “we have pointed out that when teams get down and frustrated, they tend to try to overpower the ball. We’ve talked about being smarter. Using all of our tools to the best of our ability.
“We played the game. We let the game come to us.”
Jefferson ended the Owls’ five-match winning streak.
“This can be a positive thing,” Barrientes said. “They taught us a little bit. It was a mental thing.”
The loss didn’t affect Highlands’ second-place district finish and won’t affect it’s postseason possibilities. The Owls will play at Hays (28-14, 10-4), which placed third in District 27-5A, at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.
“Now we need to get back to the drawing board,” Barrientes said, “and get ready for the playoffs.”
Jefferson will face 27-4A runner-up Boerne Champion (21-18, 11-2) at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Blossom Athletic Center.
“I’m looking forward to the challenge,” Ralston said. “They’re going to be a lot taller and a lot quicker than we’re used to. We’re really going to have to play our ‘A’ game.”
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