Hauser’s Charlie Clark spikes the ball ahead of North Decatur’s Madi Allen during a volleyball sectional match Thursday at Hauser High School.
Tommy Walker | For The Republic
HOPE — When Hauser dropped the first set to North Decatur in the opening round of its sectional Thursday night, the Jets stormed back.
Once again, when Hauser fell behind two-sets-to-one, the Jets again got off the mat.
So in the fifth and deciding set, with the match on the line, Hauser was able to match the intensity it had put forth in the second and fourth sets. The result was a narrow victory that wrapped up a 22-25, 25-18, 19-25, 25-23, 15-13 upset victory in a battle between the two teams widely considered to be the best in the sectional.
“I think we did a good job pulling together as a team and starting fresh each set and not letting the previous loss affect us, and we came out with more momentum,” senior setter Adrianna Musillami said. “Communication was key.”
The Jets (22-10) advance to play Switzerland County in the semifinals at 11 a.m. Saturday. The sectional final is at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Barring a major letdown, those games could be anticlimactic. After all, Thursday’s game had all the intensity and drama of a game much later in the tournament.
“We can’t let down for anyone, no matter who it is,” junior middle hitter Kenze Bostic said. “We just have to keep playing the game that we know how to play and play our best.”
The win avenged a four-set regular-season loss at North Decatur (25-5) in a game that decided the Mid-Hoosier Confernece title.
“I think the energy level was a lot different,” senior libero Kyra Meister said. “Everybody was excited to be there and work as a team.”
“We just learned their tactics better,” Bostic added. “We learned the type of team that they were, the types of moves they would make and we really prepared ourselves for the game.”
Hauser coach Jeff Case changed the lineup around a little since the previous time the teams met.
“We got Paige (McDaniel) up front more and had Adrianna starting out in the service spot. We wanted to get a bigger block up on them, and I think that really helped, trying to use our strengths to match up with theirs a little more than what we did the last time.”
“We came out with more energy, and we played together better and we stayed positive,” Musillami added. “We kept fighting, even when we got down.”
Musillami served the Jets to a 3-0 lead in the fifth set. The Chargers came back to tie it at 4-4, but Hauser got a sideout and two service points from Meister to retake the lead at 7-4.
North Decatur came back to tie the set at 9-9 and 10-10 before Hauser went back on top 12-10 on an ace by Musillami. After a Chargers point, Charlie Clark had a tip kill, and Aniston Bostic pounded a kill to make it 14-11.
North Decatur stayed alive with back-to-back points to cut it to 14-13, but a Chargers hitting error gave the set and match to the Jets.
“We just stayed confident, and we just remembered that Hauser always fights, and we just worked as a team,” Meister said.
“I think we stayed confident with everyone when the pressure on,” Kenze Bostic added. “When you can do things like that, great things happen.”
Case agreed.
“We knew it was going to be a battle,” Case said. “We knew we weren’t going to win it in three, and I’m not surprised one bit it went five. It’s what I expected. It could have went either way.”
Kenze Bostic pounded 16 kills, Musillami recorded 34 assists, Aniston Bostic had seven kills, Meister notched 23 digs and Clark served four aces to lead the Jets.
Also for Hauser, Aniston Bostic tallied 13 kills and three blocks, Clark added five kills and Mattie Foster had 22 digs. Gracie Blair contributed two assistsand 13 digs, Paige McDaniel had four blocks, Kenze Bostic had one assist and three blocks, Musillami served two aces and Meister added one ace.
“We had to play really well to beat that team because that is an amazing team,” Case said. “They have great hitters and play such great defense and pass the ball really well. They put a lot of pressure on you. We just had to stay calm because they were going to score points. We knew that they could put the ball away. We knew they were going to be tough. We just had to be patient and keep working to stay in there and not check out emotionally. We really talked about staying tough.”
Now, the Jets turn their attention to the semifinal matchup with Switzerland County before thinking about Saturday evening’s sectional final.
“I think have more confidence, and we’re just going to just keep bringing the energy and coming back and fighting harder,” Musillami said.
“It definitely boosted our confidence, and I think we’re ready to take on anybody,” Meister added.
