Oct 28, 2011 By Adam Brewer, For The Greene County Messenger 4 min read

JEFFERSON HILLS — The Jefferson-Morgan volleyball team kept its postseason alive with a thrilling 3-2 victory over Trinity Christian in a WPIAL Class A preliminary round match Tuesday night at Thomas Jefferson High School.

The Lady Rockets (13-5) won the back-and-forth opening set, 26-24, and then seized the second set by a 25-19 edge, before dropping the next two sets by scores of 25-16 and 25-14. J-M rallied in the final set, winning 15-12 after trailing 8-1 in the early stages of the fifth match.

“I think the last three weeks we have really come together as a team,” J-M coach Scot Moore said. “We have really started to go out there and play as a team. We made some adjustments and they have worked for us. We’ve been working on our corner play and have practiced on getting deeper to receive the balls. I’m extremely proud of the kids.”

The five-set match was the fourth for the Lady Rockets in the past 19 days. Jefferson-Morgan is 2-2 in those matches that went to the fifth set.

“We always seem to keep it interesting in these games,” said Moore. “We have had a lot of practice with five games and we just kept our composure tonight. A lot of kids stepped up, from seniors to underclassmen.”

J-M has a full complement of seniors and they know all too well what playoff volleyball is like, making their 12th straight trip to the playoffs since 2000.

Jitters were a non-factor for the Lady Rockets in the opening set after they scored the opening four points. The Lady Falcons (8-7) countered with six consecutive points and built a 17-11 lead before Moore was forced to call a timeout.

J-M was on the brink of losing the first set with Trinity Christian holding a 24-22 lead, but the Lady Rockets would not be denied, ending the set with four straight points.

With the score knotted up at 10-10 in the second set, J-M went on an 11-4 spree that gave the Lady Rockets a 21-14 lead. Jefferson-Morgan finished out the set to go up 2-0.

The Lady Falcons fell behind early in the third set, 4-1, but rebounded and held leads of 10-5, 16-9 and 20-11, before closing out the set with their first set win.

The fourth set had a seesaw start with the score at 7-7, but Trinity Christian captured the momentum and a 13-10 edge that led J-M to call a timeout. The Lady Falcons mounted a 12-4 rally to end the set and tie things up at 2-2.

Trinity Christian appeared it was going to complete the come-from-behind victory early in the final set, scoring the set’s first three points and jumping out 8-1.

J-M showed its grit and determination, and bounced back with a kill from Christina Schamp and an ace by Alexis Starostanko that started a 14-4 rally for the Lady Rockets.

The postseason win for Jefferson-Morgan was its first since 2009 when the Lady Rockets won in the Class A consolation game and advanced to the opening round of the PIAA playoffs. Last year, J-M fell to Seton La-Salle in the preliminary round.

Several players stepped up for the Lady Rockets, including key service points from Starostanko, Emily Hillsman and Sami Adamson off the bench. Julie Gialone and Kirsten Stoneking both had a solid game in the digs department for J-M as well.

Senior Nicole Schinkovec finished with nine kills and had her best game of the season, according to Moore.

“Nicole played out of her mind tonight,” Moore said. “Nicole is not flashy out there and is not your typical power hitter, but she just fights and gets the job done out there. She had one of her better games tonight.”

Heidi Dains added 12 kills for the Lady Rockets, while Kaitlyn Coles and Ashley Faddis each distributed 20 assists each in the game.

The Lady Rockets (13-5) advanced to play the third-seeded Bentworth (13-1) Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. in Bentleyville.

“I don’t know too much about Bentworth,” Moore said. “I know they are really good and are well-coached. We are going to watch some film and put a game plan together, but for tonight, we are just going to enjoy this win and celebrate this as a team.”

Seton-LaSalle 3, Carmichaels 0 — The Lady Mikes’ first visit to the Class A playoffs ended with a 3-0 loss to Seton-LaSalle at Montour High School. Seton-LaSalle won by the scores, 27-25, 25-14, 25-18.

Cameron Grimes finished with 13 service points and seven kills for Carmichaels (13-6). Amanda Brown had a team-high 10 kills. Sarah Hathaway distributed 28 assists. Alex Ferek finished with 13 digs, and Marissa Krall added 10 service points.