HOPE — The first two sets Wednesday night, Hauser went toe-to-toe with powerful Indianapolis Lutheran and pulled out a pair of close sets.
The next two sets, the Jets began experiencing the fatigue of playing their seventh match in five days.
Hauser recovered to push the Saints to the brink in the fifth and deciding set and had a match point, but Lutheran was able to score the final three points to finish off a 23-25, 24-26, 25-9, 25-12, 16-14 victory.
“We have to learn to be more mentally tough and learn how to finish,” Hauser coach Jeff Case said. “We didn’t win tonight, but hopefully, we’ll learn from it.”
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The Jets (12-6) never trailed in a first set. In the second set, they led 13-7, only to see the Saints rally for a 17-15 lead. Hauser trailed 23-19 when it got a sideout and four consecutive points with Aunaka Wasil at the service line to take a 24-23 lead. After the Saints tied it, they had a service error and hitting error to allow the Jets to take a two-sets-to-none lead.
The third and fourth sets were all Lutheran. Hauser jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the fifth behind the serving of Adriana Musillami. After five lead changes in the final set, Hauser took its last lead at 14-13 before the Saints closed it out.
“We had opportunities,” Case said. “We missed a couple of serves there in that fifth set. But it was a team effort. We had mistakes all over the place. We just have to learn how to be more consistent. At times, we would play really well, and for whatever reason, we lose our consistency, and our ball control goes away and our hitting goes away.”
Lutheran’s Dara Milivojac, who came in leading the state with 408 kills, added 32 more kills on Wednesday.
Hannah Johnson recorded 12 kills, one block and three aces, and Wasil had 25 assists and 23 digs to lead the Jets. Kendal Bostic notched one kill, and Andie Clark tallied 23 digs.
Also for Hauser, Bostic pounded 11 kills, and Charlie Clark added nine kills. Kyra Meister posted 10 digs, and Wasil served two aces.
Now, Hauser will have to turn around and play its eighth match in six days tonight at Class A No. 1 Trinity Lutheran.
“That’s just what it is this year,” Case said. “Everybody is playing crazy schedules with games being canceled and moved around. I’d rather do this than not be able to play, but it could be some fatigue.”
