HOPE — After the first set of Thursday’s volleyball match, Hauser looked to have plenty of momentum to pick up a win against a Class 4A school.
Shelbyville had other plans.
The Golden Bears fought back and eventually forced a fifth set and prevailed to shock the Class A No. 9 Jets 19-25, 25-16, 25-23, 20-25, 15-11.
“I thought we had the momentum going into it, but (Shelbyville) came out with more intensity, and we dropped off for some reason,” Hauser coach Jeff Case said. “They took advantage of our mistakes, and that’s how they ran through us.”
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After the Jets (12-3) scored two quick points in the opening set, the Golden Bears responded back with four straight points to lead 4-2. It became a seesaw battle for much of the set with both teams trading points. Shelbyville led 18-16, but the serving of Andie Clark helped propel Hauser to eight straight points until Shelbyville was able to respond to make it 24-19 before the Jets won the final point of the set.
All the momentum Hauser had vanished to start the second set when the Golden Bears jumped out to a 4-1 lead. With Shelbyville leading 14-11, the Jets scored four of the next five points to tie it at 15-15. The Golden Bears rallied for four straight points that forced a Hauser timeout. Shelbyville’s momentum didn’t stall, picking up three straight point to force another timeout leading 22-15. The Golden Bears won two of the next three points to close out the set.
In the third set, Shelbyville opened up a 10-6 lead until the Jets stormed back to cut it to 15-14. The Golden Bears then rallied off three consecutive points to lead 18-14. The serving of Mary Branum helped give Hauser six points in a row to lead 20-18. Shelbyville then went on a 7-3 run to close out the set.
In the fourth set, the Golden Bears led 16-13 until the Jets went on a 12-4 run to close out the set.
In the fifth set, Hauser led 7-4, but Shelbyville scored three of the next four points to cut it to 8-7. The Golden Bears then scored four straight points and eventually closed out the match.
Clark finished with 28 digs and three aces, and Kylie Lock had 19 digs, four kills and four assists. Hannah Johnson added 17 kills and five blocks, Melanie Taylor notched 21 digs and Aunaka Wasil tallied 36 assists.
“There’s a lot of positives that we can take out of this. We have to sustain that mental toughness throughout the match and not let up and give a set away,” Case said.
