Oct 14, 2009 4 min read

JEFFERSON – In a critical Section 5-A volleyball game, Jefferson-Morgan showed its experience and athleticism by defeating the visiting Geibel Catholic Lady Gators 3-1 Tuesday night. With the win, Jefferson-Morgan (12-1, 7-1) sweeps the season-series with Geibel (6-6, 6-4) as the Lady Rockets previously defeated the Gators, 3-1.

The sets went 25-17, 21-25, 25-21 and 25-16 for the Lady Rockets.

“This is a big week for us, and I think we were really focused tonight,” Jefferson-Morgan coach Ron Headlee said. “You can’t let up on Geibel because they are a tough team and well-coached. I thought our girls’ passing game wasn’t the best it could have been, but we kept our composure and were able to battle through.”

In the first set, it was a back and forth swing as both teams looked sharp, but it was the Rockets who held an early 7-4 lead.

J-M increased the lead to 18-10, but after five unanswered points by Geibel, the Lady Rockets were forced to call a timeout.

Then the Lady Rockets went on a 7-2 run to recapture the momentum and the first set.

In the second set, the Rockets again held an early edge as they went out 20-16, but this time around the Gators were able to seize the moment and rally with a 9-1 run as they bounced back to win the set and knot things up at 1-1.

The Lady Rockets once again garnered an early lead in the pivotal third set as they had leads of 13-6 and then 18-12.

Geibel once again battled back and brought the deficit to 19-17, but this time J-M showed its senior leadership and composure and to finished the set with a 6-4 rally.

“I thought we played well tonight; I couldn’t ask for must more,” Geibel coach Rick Watkins said. “We had a chance to win that critical third game, but things happen, and that’s all I’m going to say about that. Jefferson is a good team because they have a lot of seniors and are taller than us. We battled the whole match, and if we played this well at our place we could have had a better outcome.”

In the fourth set, the Rockets rattled off 12 of the first 17 points and cruised to a commanding 25-16 win.

Four seniors led the way for J-M.

Mabel Culp had a game-high 25 kills as Morgan Olson help set her up with the kills and totaled 30 assists.

“Mabel played her best game of the season,” Headlee said. “At times she was just unstoppable and kept on getting good passes from Morgan. We had a lot more power and size than they do, and Mabel just dominated them at times.”

Marissa Cameron chipped in with 23 digs, while Kaylie Becker contributed 13 service points.

“These girls are a special group, including the nine seniors,” Headlee said. “For them, it was the first time they ever felt the feeling of beating Geibel two times in one year. All this season we just wanted to give us a chance to win each game and to win the section.”

For the Lady Gators, senior Carly Ciarochi had 18 kills and eight service points as fellow senior Marney Hillen recorded 12 kills and 12 service points.

Senior Breanne Dowden was credited with 38 assists, while junior Kaila Maruniak garnered three blocks.

The Lady Gators are on the road Thursday at Carmichaels for another section matchup.

“We don’t need to make any adjustments overall,” Watkins said. “We played a really good game, and their times that a team just beat you. We had a couple of mistakes, but it’s very difficult to be mistake free in this game and in this tough section.”

Also on Thursday, the Lady Rockets host undefeated Frazier with the section title up for grabs. Frazier handed J-M its only loss of the season on Sept. 22.

“Frazier has a little bit more height then we do, and we are going try to contain that,” Headlee said. “We had a good game plan last time of trying to hit the ball on the outsides, but we just need to do a better job of blocking. Last time, they were really putting the ball down on us, so that’s going to be key in this game.”