RIPLEY — Ripley had the tough task of opening up their season against perennial Southern Hills Athletic Conference power North Adams on Tuesday.
It didn’t fare so well.
On Thursday, the Lady Jays bounced back with a 3-0 (25-25, 25-19, 25-18) win over Mason County at the Birds Nest.
“On Tuesday we got everything handed to us in all the wrong ways. I think North Adams will win our conference,” Lady Jays coach Kody Gilkerson said. “This was a redemption game and really brought the girls’ confidence level up so much.”
Ripley (1-1) rallied from a 18-9 first set deficit and never looked back in the straight set victory. Gilkerson pointed to the team’s energy in the match, maintaining momentum throughout the majority to earn their first win of the season.
“The girls really fed off the energy in the whole gym. We struggled with communication and getting down on ourselves early on in the season so far. The key was staying positive and I think that’s what dug us out of that,” Gilkerson said.
Mason County (1-1) was coming off their first season opening win since 2016 on Monday over Nicholas County.
Things started off well for the Lady Royals, but a stretch of six points that resulted in five errors trimmed their 19-12 lead into a 19-18 advantage in the first.
“The girls are just working on not getting down on themselves and then lifting themselves back up to try and grab that momentum and take it with them,” Lady Royals coach Kortney Mills said. “We just need to work on not getting down when the other team starts to do things a little bit better. They’re working on that and that’s something that will progress throughout the season.”
The Lady Jays kept inching closer before finally taking their first lead in the set at 24-23 after a Savanna Profitt kill. Maci Haitz finished off the set with a kill to cap the rally.
Despite five service errors in the second set, the Lady Jays were able to overcome a 13-9 deficit with a 8-2 run and pull away at 17-all to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
The third set went back and forth, knotted up at 14-all, Ripley once again closing a set strong, utilizing a 6-0 run to take a 20-14 lead, five points from victory.
The Lady Royals got within four at 21-17, but the Lady Jays remained poised to close out the match at 25-18 with the straight set victory.
“I just wanted them to stay in the mindset of not being cocky and felt like they had the game in the bag, so I told them to approach it like we were down there at the end and keep their head in that mindset,” Gilkerson said.
Ripley tallied 26 kills in the match, led by Riley Finn and Rose Eckler with five apiece. Mason County recorded 16 kills, Meya Myrick with six and Kiersten Coleman with five.
The Lady Royals won the aces battle 10-9, Alyssa Cracraft pacing Mason County with four aces, Maci Haitz leading the Lady Jays with three.
Ripley returns to action on Friday when they take on SHAC foe West Union on the road.
Mason County will get a bunch of games in on Saturday when they play in the Glacier Invitational at Bracken County. They’ll get three pool play games in before a single-elimination tournament.
“We’re taking this and we’re going to reflect on it tomorrow and take away only positives to go into Saturday and get ready for a long day of volleyball,” Mills said.
Pendleton County, Grant County, Boone County, Harrison County, Montgomery County and Bracken County will all be there on Saturday in Brooksville.
LADY JAYS DEF. LADY ROYALS, 3-0 (25-23, 25-19, 25-18)
Match Stats:
Kills: MC 16 (Myrick 6), R 26 (Finn, Eckler 5)
Aces: MC 10 (Cracraft 4), R 9 (Haitz 3)
Errors: MC 33, R 21
Service Errors: MC 6, R 13
Records: Mason County 1-1, Ripley 1-1
