Mineral Area bows out to No. 7 ranked Lake Land
By DONN ADAMSON\Daily Journal Sports Editor
Oct 05, 2005 - 11:25:52 CDT
PARK HILLS - It was as if someone told the Mineral Area Lady Cardinals in the middle of their volleyball match with the Lake Land Lakers that they were playing the No. 7 ranked team in the nation and that they couldn't beat such a team. And they believed it, at least it seemed that way.
The Lady Cardinals jumped on the Lakers from the very start and had the highly ranked team with its back to the mat, but the Lakers got up and the match took a different direction. Mineral Area won the first two games 31-29, 30-22, but then lost the next three to the visitors 21-30, 20-30 and 11-15 to allow Lake Land to leave with their ranking intact.
Mineral Area took an early 7-3 lead in game one off of the serve of Monika Jaroszewicz prompting Lakeland's coach to call time to settle her team down from first game jitters. The Lakers answered with their second serve missing the court.
It would be the Lakers serving that would get them back into the first game as MAC's defenders could not handle the serve receive very well causing the Lady Cardinals to play defense for a good stretch of points, and the Lakers tied the game up at 11-11.
Cassidy Wisdom made a one hand stab to save the ball for the Lady Cardinals, and they were able to turn it into a side-out to break Lake Land's serve. The two teams locked into trading side-outs until the Lakers jumped out to a 21-18 lead.
Tiara Boyer toed the service line and with the help of a couple of Jaroszewicz' kills and two Lakeland hitting errors, MAC took the lead at 25-24. Boyer continued to serve and when Chaumone Robinson-Streater made a block of a quick-tip by Lake Land's setter to make it 27-24, Lake Land called its second time-out.
After a pair of side-outs, a kill by Lora Dickey made it game point, but Mineral Area went back into a bad serve-receive mode and after Lakeland closed to 29-27, MAC coach Tim Copeland called time. Ashley Meeks served an ace after the break, and a tipped ball by Jaroszewicz that barely missed the sideline tied the game up at 29-29.
Lake Land missed on an attack to make it game point. Jaroszewicz hit a rocket serve that forced the Lakers defender to pop the ball up over the net where Wisdom spiked it for the kill and the game.
In game two, Mineral Area took the early lead only to have it balloon quickly to an insurmountable measure. The Lakers missed a couple of attacks and when Jaroszewicz and Tiara Boyer served the Lady Cardinals to a 15-4 lead, the Lakers knew their ranking was in serious jeopardy.
After several close calls on the lines that went MAC's way broke Lakeland's concentration and their attacks began to fail, the Lakers called time to get their focus back on the game.
Dickey made two kills in a row to keep the Lakers from surging back, but it's hard to hold a good team down and the Lakers began to gain momentum. After four straight points, Coach Copeland called time to calm the Lady Cardinals down.
Jaroszewicz and Dickey matched the Lakers kill for kill as the game progressed side-out by side-out. The Lakers made another run to close to within three at 24-21, but MAC's defense stiffened and the Lady Cardinals pushed ahead again. Boyer nailed a sideline shot, and a kill by Dickey followed by an ace by Wisdom made it game point. Lakeland attacked with a shot in the net for the final point.
But from there it was nearly all Lake Land. The Lakers took an early 7-3 lead and made it 11-5. A Mineral Area time-out did not slow down the Lakers' pace as Lakeland began fine-tuning their attack game.
The Lady Cardinals could not gain on the visitors lead, but managed to keep pace. A kill by Wisdom and one by Jaroszewicz that knocked Lake Land's libero player down kept Lake Land from pulling completely away, but it did not stop the already 'rolling stone'.
What had started in game three went ballistic in game four. Averaging seven kills in the first three games, the Lakers scored 17 in the fourth game. Nine of their first 13 points were on kills and the attack stayed relentless. At the same time, the Lakers were able to thwart MAC's attacks with solid blocking and the 'rolling stone' was gaining speed.
The high spot in game four came with MAC facing extinction at 27-18. Jennifer Gabrian hit a serve that hit the top of the net and spun over to fall to the floor for a point. Gabrian used the lucky serve to set up her next one. With the defense looking for another short one, Gabrian painted the back line for a second ace.
The two serves caused Lake Land coach Jessica Hills to call time again to stop a possible comeback by the Lady Cardinals. The comeback would never come as the Lakers served the game on out to even up the match at two games apiece.
Game five saw Lake Land jump out to a 3-0 lead with the game being only a 15 pointer. MAC''s attack game was nearly nonexistent, and what was spiked was blocked by the Lakers, but the Lady Cardinals managed to come back and when Jaroszewicz made a drop shot past the Lakers block the game was tied at 5-5.
Fear was put in Mineral Area fans when Jaroszewicz made a huge kill, but tripped on a teammate's foot and then hit the deck. After laying there a bit, Jaroszewicz got up served an ace and then hit a backcourt kill to give MAC a 9-6 lead and cause the Lakers to call time.
The Lakers showed why they are ranked so high as they came back out and scored the next four to tie the game at 10-10. Mineral Area made three missed attacks and another one blocked to close out the game and the match.
Leaders for Mineral Area in the match were Jaroszewicz with 14 kills and three aces in the match, Wisdom had nine kills and two aces along with 21 digs, and Dickey had seven kills and three blocks. Gabrian made 26 assists along with 19 digs and two aces. Libero player Jessica Murdick had 23 digs and Robinson-Streater had three blocks.
Mineral Area, 22-11, will play their next game on October 12 at Three Rivers College in Poplar Bluff.
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The Lady Cardinals jumped on the Lakers from the very start and had the highly ranked team with its back to the mat, but the Lakers got up and the match took a different direction. Mineral Area won the first two games 31-29, 30-22, but then lost the next three to the visitors 21-30, 20-30 and 11-15 to allow Lake Land to leave with their ranking intact.
Mineral Area took an early 7-3 lead in game one off of the serve of Monika Jaroszewicz prompting Lakeland's coach to call time to settle her team down from first game jitters. The Lakers answered with their second serve missing the court.
It would be the Lakers serving that would get them back into the first game as MAC's defenders could not handle the serve receive very well causing the Lady Cardinals to play defense for a good stretch of points, and the Lakers tied the game up at 11-11.
Cassidy Wisdom made a one hand stab to save the ball for the Lady Cardinals, and they were able to turn it into a side-out to break Lake Land's serve. The two teams locked into trading side-outs until the Lakers jumped out to a 21-18 lead.
Tiara Boyer toed the service line and with the help of a couple of Jaroszewicz' kills and two Lakeland hitting errors, MAC took the lead at 25-24. Boyer continued to serve and when Chaumone Robinson-Streater made a block of a quick-tip by Lake Land's setter to make it 27-24, Lake Land called its second time-out.
After a pair of side-outs, a kill by Lora Dickey made it game point, but Mineral Area went back into a bad serve-receive mode and after Lakeland closed to 29-27, MAC coach Tim Copeland called time. Ashley Meeks served an ace after the break, and a tipped ball by Jaroszewicz that barely missed the sideline tied the game up at 29-29.
Lake Land missed on an attack to make it game point. Jaroszewicz hit a rocket serve that forced the Lakers defender to pop the ball up over the net where Wisdom spiked it for the kill and the game.
In game two, Mineral Area took the early lead only to have it balloon quickly to an insurmountable measure. The Lakers missed a couple of attacks and when Jaroszewicz and Tiara Boyer served the Lady Cardinals to a 15-4 lead, the Lakers knew their ranking was in serious jeopardy.
After several close calls on the lines that went MAC's way broke Lakeland's concentration and their attacks began to fail, the Lakers called time to get their focus back on the game.
Dickey made two kills in a row to keep the Lakers from surging back, but it's hard to hold a good team down and the Lakers began to gain momentum. After four straight points, Coach Copeland called time to calm the Lady Cardinals down.
Jaroszewicz and Dickey matched the Lakers kill for kill as the game progressed side-out by side-out. The Lakers made another run to close to within three at 24-21, but MAC's defense stiffened and the Lady Cardinals pushed ahead again. Boyer nailed a sideline shot, and a kill by Dickey followed by an ace by Wisdom made it game point. Lakeland attacked with a shot in the net for the final point.
But from there it was nearly all Lake Land. The Lakers took an early 7-3 lead and made it 11-5. A Mineral Area time-out did not slow down the Lakers' pace as Lakeland began fine-tuning their attack game.
The Lady Cardinals could not gain on the visitors lead, but managed to keep pace. A kill by Wisdom and one by Jaroszewicz that knocked Lake Land's libero player down kept Lake Land from pulling completely away, but it did not stop the already 'rolling stone'.
What had started in game three went ballistic in game four. Averaging seven kills in the first three games, the Lakers scored 17 in the fourth game. Nine of their first 13 points were on kills and the attack stayed relentless. At the same time, the Lakers were able to thwart MAC's attacks with solid blocking and the 'rolling stone' was gaining speed.
The high spot in game four came with MAC facing extinction at 27-18. Jennifer Gabrian hit a serve that hit the top of the net and spun over to fall to the floor for a point. Gabrian used the lucky serve to set up her next one. With the defense looking for another short one, Gabrian painted the back line for a second ace.
The two serves caused Lake Land coach Jessica Hills to call time again to stop a possible comeback by the Lady Cardinals. The comeback would never come as the Lakers served the game on out to even up the match at two games apiece.
Game five saw Lake Land jump out to a 3-0 lead with the game being only a 15 pointer. MAC''s attack game was nearly nonexistent, and what was spiked was blocked by the Lakers, but the Lady Cardinals managed to come back and when Jaroszewicz made a drop shot past the Lakers block the game was tied at 5-5.
Fear was put in Mineral Area fans when Jaroszewicz made a huge kill, but tripped on a teammate's foot and then hit the deck. After laying there a bit, Jaroszewicz got up served an ace and then hit a backcourt kill to give MAC a 9-6 lead and cause the Lakers to call time.
The Lakers showed why they are ranked so high as they came back out and scored the next four to tie the game at 10-10. Mineral Area made three missed attacks and another one blocked to close out the game and the match.
Leaders for Mineral Area in the match were Jaroszewicz with 14 kills and three aces in the match, Wisdom had nine kills and two aces along with 21 digs, and Dickey had seven kills and three blocks. Gabrian made 26 assists along with 19 digs and two aces. Libero player Jessica Murdick had 23 digs and Robinson-Streater had three blocks.
Mineral Area, 22-11, will play their next game on October 12 at Three Rivers College in Poplar Bluff.