HOPE — Hauser volleyball found itself trailing late in the fourth set in Tuesday’s season opener, and Jennings County had all the momentum to get to a fifth set.
The Jets then made a huge rally.
Hauser eventually tied the fourth set, and then closed it out for a 25-15, 22-25, 25-20, 26-24 victory.
The Jets were trailing 22-17 in the fourth set, but scored five straight points to tie the game at 22-22. After both teams swapped points, the Panthers had set point leading 24-23. Hannah Johnson and Kylie Lock then made consecutive kills, and then Hauser picked up the final point to clinch the match.
“I think we started to get a lot of momentum, and we were definitely encouraging our teammates, and that was really good,” Lock said of the fourth set rally. “What puts us over the top is when our fans are happy, and our players are happy, and then it helps everyone play better.”
The Jets made quick work of the first set. After the teams were tied 6-6, Hauser rallied for 11 straight points, and then eventually closed out the set.
The second set was much different, with the tide turning in favor of the Panthers. Jennings went on a 7-1 run to lead 17-11. That gave the Panthers enough of a gap to fend of any comebacks by the Jets.
Hauser jumped out to a 5-0 lead early in the third set. The Jets possessed a 23-15 lead late in the set until another short rally from Jennings cut it to 24-19. A kill from Johnson closed the set.
It was back and forth in the fourth set with the Panthers leading 18-17 following a Hauser point. Jennings then scored four straight points to lead 22-17 to set up the Jet comeback.
“The main thing we talked about in the huddle of the last three sets is that we need high energy,” Jennings coach Blakli Hukill said. “Whether we’re down in the teens and they’re in the 20s, we have to have high energy because that was how we were going to build ourselves back up. I told them that I was proud of them, regardless, as long as they gave me high energy. They had it, so I’m not upset at all.”
For the Panthers, Hanah Bentram finished with 15 digs and an ace, Grace Ramey had five blocks and seven kills and Abi Vogel added 12 kills and five blocks.
Hauser’s Lock finished with 25 digs and nine kills, and Johnson had 11 kills and five blocks. Aunaka Wasil tallied 29 assists and an ace, Andie Clark added 18 digs, Olivia Wright had two blocks, Shelby Fugate served two aces and Mary Branum added one ace.
“In that second set, our defense let up a bit, and (Jennings) picked up their intensity. Abi Vogel was awesome, and Hanah, their libero, was passing great. They put on a lot of pressure with their size.” Hauser coach Jeff Case said. “We have to play tough defense to stop those runs. We had a lot of unforced errors. We just have to clean that up.
“That was a really good comeback in the fourth set, they were up on us, and we had to really tighten down,” he added. “They had us against the wall, and we came back. If we can stay patient on offense and play good defense, we’ll get more chances.”
