HOPE — When the Edinburgh volleyball sectional concludes the night of Oct. 17, odds are that Hauser and Greenwood Christian Academy will be playing for the title.
Monday night, those two teams got together for a late regular-season battle, and if that match was any indication, a rematch might be one for the ages. The Cougars pulled out a 30-32, 25-22, 25-20, 18-25, 15-11 victory.
“We know that Hauser is the toughest team out here right now,” Greenwood Christian coach Tasha Vessely said. “(Hauser’s) Jeff (Case) is a great coach, always has been, and we knew we were coming in for a battle.”
The Cougars (15-8) used some powerful hitting from Izzy Reed, who went over the 1,000 kills mark for her career, and Mayah Schundelmier. Reed finished with 32 kills, while Riley Ratliff recorded 57 assists and Naomi Hillenburg had 11 digs.
The first set featured 11 lead changes. Seven of those came after the Jets led 24-22 and were serving for set point. Hauser (17-10) had five set points, and Greenwood Christian had three before the Jets finally took the set on a Cougars hitting error.
The Jets jumped out to a 4-1 lead and led 11-10 in the second set. Tied at 12, Greenwood Christian got a sideout and five consecutive points with Ratliff at the service line to take an 18-12 lead. Hauser got back within 23-22, but the Cougars got a sideout and claimed the set on a Schundelmier kill.
In the third set, the Jets led 7-5, but Greenwood Christian rebounded to go ahead 21-11. Hauser rallied to within 22-19 and 23-20 before the Cougars closed out the set.
The Jets jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the fourth set after four straight points with Sophia Musillami serving. Greenwood Christian came back to tie it at 12-12 and 13-13 before Hauser got a sideout and five points in a row from Adriana Musillami to take a 19-13 lead. The Jets closed the set on a kill from Charlie Clark.
The Cougars sprinted to a 6-1 lead in the fifth set. Hauser got back to within 9-7 and 10-8, but Greenwood Christian closed it out on a kill by Reed.
Hannah Johnson recorded 25 kills and four blocks, and Aunaka Wasil tallied 47 assists and four aces to lead the Jets. Kenze Bostic had four blocks, and Andie Clark notched 32 digs.
Also for Hauser, Charlie Clark pounded 11 kills, and Marnie Schwartzkopf added six kills. Adriana Musillami contributed one assist, 20 digs and two aces, and Wasil posted 22 digs.
“We just have to have better ball control to start with so we can run our offense,” Case said. “When we can pass the ball around the 10-foot line and run some offense, we’re doing some good things. We got exactly what we deserved. We didn’t deserve to win because we didn’t play well enough.”
