MORRISTOWN — Coming off of a relatively easy win over International in its regional semifinal match earlier in the day, Class A No. 12 Hauser knew it would be facing a much stiffer challenge in the championship match that night.
No. 8 Bloomfield, which also handily won its semifinal match, awaited. Unfortunately for the Jets, they were unable to extend their season, falling to the Cardinals 22-25, 16-25, 25-23, 25-23, 15-13.
The two evenly-matched teams played back and forth for the entire match. It was Hauser that was able to pull ahead in the clutch for the first two sets, but the next three sets went Bloomfield’s way.
The first set featured seven ties, and no team held a lead larger than six points. The Jets looked as though they were going to pull away from the Cardinals at the end of the set when they held their biggest lead at 24-18. Bloomfield did not fold easily, however, and went on a four-point run to cut the lead to 24-22 before a Hannah Johnson kill ended the set.
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The second set was a carbon copy of Set 1. It was a back-and-forth affair, with the first 16 points being sideouts. The game featured 10 ties. The Cardinals then grabbed a quick two-point lead, scoring three straight points to make the score 10-8. After Hauser fought back with a four-point run of its own to take a 13-11 lead, Bloomfield managed to once again tie the score at 15, but from there it was all Jets. Andi Clark rattled off four straight points from behind the service line, and that was followed by Mary Branum’s four-point run, and Hauser outscored the Cardinals 10-1 to pull away for the second-set win, giving it a 2-0 lead in the match.
However, Bloomfield would have a lot of fight left. Once again, the third set was close throughout. It featured 11 ties, and no team held a lead larger than three points the entire set. After the Jets took their biggest lead at 15-12, the Cardinals fought their way back into the lead at 16-15. From there, they never trailed again in the set, although Hauser was able to tie the game on five occasions. Following the final tie at 23 apiece, Bloomfield scored the last two points.
“I think we might have won that second set almost too easily,” Hauser coach Jeff Case said. “We got up 2-0 and kind of took our foot off the gas a little, and that was all it took. They are a good team, a winning team, and they took advantage of that and got the momentum.”
And the Cardinals were not finished yet. Once again, they showed why they are a top-10 team in the fourth set. After leading early in the set, they found themselves trailing yet again, 15-12. From there however, they managed to stave off the Jets just enough to eventually tie the game at 23, the twelfth tie of the game. And again, they were able to put the Jets away by scoring the final two points of the set, forcing a fifth and deciding set.
“They were able to make some adjustments to our quick offense after the first couple of games, and they took advantage of some unforced errors that we had,” Case stated.
It appeared though, that Hauser had wrestled the momentum away from Bloomfield in the last set when they jumped out to a 4-1 lead. And although the Cardinals were able to battle back into the game, the Jets still held an 8-7 lead. From there, however, Bloomfield outscored Hauser 6-3 to take a 14-11 lead. The Jets fought back valiantly to pull to within 14-13, but once again, the Cardinals were able to finish off the regional championship.
“Of course we are disappointed, but this was a great season for our team. They were an enjoyable group, they practiced hard, but unfortunately, this is our story for the season,” Case said.
Leading the way for the Hauser (27-8) was Hannah Johnson with 19 kills, Aunaka Wasil with 50 assists, Andie Clark with 20 digs and Mary Branum with five aces.
The Jets won their semifinal match against University handily, defeating the Gryphons 25-16, 25-8, 25-16. Johnson paced the Jets with 17 kills, Wasil recorded 31 assists, Clark had 20 digs and Branum served four aces.
