MORRISTOWN — The Hauser volleyball team had as bad of a start that it could have in the first set of Saturday night’s Morristown Regional final, and it looked like Indianapolis Lutheran was going to roll.
The Jets, though, put up a great fight.
Hauser came back to win the second and third sets but eventually fell in the fourth and fifth to end its season with a 25-11, 20-25, 15-25, 25-22, 15-5 loss.
“I’m really proud of the hard character that they showed,” Hauser coach Jeff Case said. “It was as bad of a start as I had ever seen. To come back after that, I’m really proud of them. We pushed a really good team to the brink.
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“I’m just proud of what we’ve done this year. They’ve worked so hard and bought in what we were trying to do and proved so much. It stings now but have motivation to do better next year,” he added.
After the setback in the first set, the Jets (21-15) climbed out to a 16-5 lead in the second set, but the Saints came back and went on a 10-1 run to cut it to 17-15. Later in the set, Hauser led 21-20 and then captured the final four points of the set.
The Jets cruised ahead 17-7 in the third set, but Lutheran came back to cut it to 20-14 until Hauser scored five of the next six points to take the set. The Saints then took the final two sets to get the title.
Melanie Taylor finished with 25 digs and three aces, Shelby Fugate had 16 digs and four kills and Hannah Johnson notched 22 kills and four blocks and three aces. Aunaka Wasil tallied 32 assists, and Kylie Lock finished with 15 digs and eight kills.
“I know they’re not happy about it now, but in the days to come they will know how much an achievement it was to do what they did and it will be motivation for next year,” Case said.
The Jets also got off to a slow start in its semifinal match on Saturday morning, but climbed back to claim an 18-25, 25-22, 25-20, 32-30 victory against Bloomfield.
“They showed a tremendous amount of heart. I’m extremely proud of them,” Case said. “It wasn’t going to be easy against a good team like that. You had to step up, and you had to play well and make great plays. If we just started what we would normally do, we figured to have a good shot to come out on top.”
Hauser led 19-15 in the second set, but the Cardinals scored five straight points to lead 20-19. The momentum swing did not faze the Jets because they scored five of the next seven points to tie the match at 1-1.
In the third set, Bloomfield was in control of the set going up well ahead 18-11. Hauser then scored three straight points that forced a Cardinals timeout. Following the timeout, the teams traded points to make it 19-15. The Jets went into overdrive, scoring the next four points to force a second Bloomfield timeout with the game tied 19-19. The Cardinals picked up the next point, but Hauser scored the next six to go ahead in the match 2-1.
The Jets were in early command of the fourth set leading 16-8, but Bloomfield did not go down without a fight, scoring six of the next seven points to cut it to 17-14 and forcing a Hauser timeout. Bloomfield had the lead at 30-29, but the Jets scored the next three points to take the match.
Wasil finished with 42 assists, three blocks and two aces, Lock had 10 kills and 15 digs, Johnson pounded 20 kills and two blocks, Fugate had 18 digs and three aces, Taylor added 27 digs and Olivia Wright had nine kills.
“(Friday), Jeff called in a lot of past players and people that inspire us, and they all talked to us,” Wright said. “It was really helpful and encouraging, and that was one of the main things that made everyone go out there with a lot of enthusiasm and intensity.”
Wright was one of the unsung heroes of the match, getting a lot of tip kills toward the end of the third and fourth sets.
“Olivia came in there and did a really great job for us, and she stepped up for us,” Case said. “All the rest of the girls stepped up. They played really clean and kept the mistakes down and kept the pressure on them until we finally got it.”
A week earlier, the Jets won their ninth consecutive sectional title after losing the most of their core players from last year. The good news for Hauser is that everyone will be returning in the lineup, and there is a possibility it could make a deeper postseason run next year.
“We picked up new people, and we all had to step up into new positions. It was really hard on us at first, but we improved so much and I’m proud of this team,” Fugate said. “We have so much fight and motivation right now after losing that game. It will be a great year next year.”
