Epic final set tilts in Farmington's favor as Jackson volleyball drops back-and-forth district final

Jackson volleyball players console each other after their loss to Farmington in the Class 4 District 1 championship match Wednesday in Farmington, Missouri. The Knights won in three sets.

Fred Lynch

FARMINGTON, Mo. -- It was a match in which every action resulted in an opposite reaction. For every push, there was a pull.

With a trophy on the line, it all came down to the final hit, as third-seeded Farmington recovered from a second-set collapse and then scratched and clawed its way to a 2-1 win over top-seeded Jackson -- 25-19, 14-25 and 30-28 -- to capture the Class 4 District 1 championship on Wednesday night at Farmington High School.

"Oh, man. It just shows their heart and their determination," Farmington coach Julie Ward said. "They started their season in the summer, and we put so much time and effort into it. And for them to get this result -- a district championship against a great team. [Jackson was] just as hungry for this district win as we were, and we were lucky tonight we got to put it down when we needed to."

The first two games of the match made it clear that things could go either way, with Jackson never leading in the first set before breezing through the second, but the third set showed just how little separated the two sides.

Jackson libero Hannah Wilson takes a Farmington serve as Olivia Hallet looks on during the first set of the Class 4 District 1 championship Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2017 in Farmington, Missouri.

Fred Lynch

Jackson (27-9-2) pulled out to a 9-5 lead in the decisive, final game, but Farmington (24-11) put together a five-point run to swing to a 10-9 advantage. And the tone was set. The game was separated by more than a point just once between then and the final attack.

"That little run there made it nip and tuck, back and forth," Jackson coach Dave Mirly said. "I felt like if we could have pushed two or three more points there, we would have really put them on their heels."

The No. 1 seed was unable to build any breathing room, though; down the stretch, the Knights held off match point once to knot things at 24-all before Jackson did the same four times. But with the game tied at 28-28, Farmington got back-to-back kills from Jesse Miller to nail down the result it wanted.

It was an impressive recovery for a Knights squad that had completely collapsed in the second set.

"We fell apart that second set. We couldn't pull anything together," Ward said. "... Then that third set, we just had to make it even. We had to play consistent, just like we had all year round. They came out, they put it down. I was nervous because I thought we were going to get down and not be able to get back up because Jackson is a phenomenal team, and it's hard to get back up on them. My girls came out and did what they needed to do."

Farmington was steady in the match's opening game, going up 2-0 to start things off and never once trailing, even as Jackson remained within shouting distance the entire time.

The Knights held a four-point advantage as late as 14-10, with Sarah Bauer setting up Jordyn Harris for a kill, but the Indians bounced back with a three-point run that included an ace by Hannah Wilson and a kill by Emily Scott to pull within one, 14-13. But that was as close as Jackson got.

The tournament hosts ran off the final four points of the set to get on the front foot.

"We had our backs to the wall," Mirly said. "I felt Farmington played their best serve-receive game that I've ever seen them play in a small sample size. ... It gave their hitters an advantage over our blockers because we were late because of that. I felt they kept that up the second and third set, but a few other things went wrong for them. And we passed the ball better and were a little more ready for them. That helped us even things out a little bit."

It also helped that the Knights seemed to get lapped by their own momentum, unable to cope with a positive start after having dropped all four sets in which they'd faced Jackson in the regular season.

Lainey Broussard set up Olivia Hallet for a kill off a block -- the Jackson duo combined for a successful attack 11 times in the match -- that gave the Indians the lead for good, 4-3, in the second set.

"After that first set, we were so high because we hadn't beaten them a single set this year," Ward said. "So for us to come out and play as well as we had the first set, it was such a good high, such a good feeling going in, until about the fifth point of that second set, and then I knew we were going to go three (games)."

An eight-point, mid-set swing for Jackson buried Farmington, as the top seed breezed into the third set.

"One thing we did was they weren't trick setting anybody, and they weren't running fast offense," Mirly said. "Our middles, for some reason, were late the whole first set. So I said, 'Cheat. They're not going to back-set. They're not going to do anything special. We really need to get over there and cheat.' And that's what we did better in the second and third set. We got more touches. We got more blocks, and if we didn't get touches, our defense was able to line up and get where it needed to be at."

For Jackson, it looked like the second game might be the turning point that steered it toward a district title.

"In the second set, it was about 5-2, and we scored the fifth point. And for the first time, the entire time I felt like we took a deep breath and were able to sigh and play relaxed," Mirly said. "Up to that point, we hadn't been relaxed. So that was a turning point for us. The rest of the time, we played relaxed. Even when they were serving game point after game point, we were still relaxed."

Jackson's Molly Parker passes the ball against Farmington during the second set of the Class 4 District 1 championship Wednesday, Oct. 18, 2017 in Farmington, Missouri.

Fred Lynch

But it wasn't enough to win the school's first district title since 2015.

Hallet had 14 kills and two blocks in her final performance in an Indians uniform, while Scott added 11 kills. Senior Molly Parker contributed seven kills.

Broussard led all players with 31 assists for Jackson.

Farmington was paced by 17 kills and a block from Miller, while Macey Pauls had 10 kills.

The Knights got 24 assists from Bauer and 17 from Ellie Reidt.

Mirly praised his three seniors -- Hallet, Parker and Paige Paullus -- for their sacrifice and leadership in the first season under the new coach, saying they did "a fabulous job" setting an example for the team.

Despite falling just a couple of points shy of a district championship and a spot in the sectional round, the coach considered the season a rousing success. It's the first time in Mirly's career that his program has had a winning record in his first year.

"The most remarkable thing they did was they made their head coach believe in them because at the beginning of the year, I knew we'd be OK, and I knew we'd play hard. I had no idea we could be this good -- none whatsoever," Mirly said. "So, you know, they made me believe in them. That's hard for a team to do -- to exceed their coach's expectations. Hopefully we just keep building on that.

"For them to give me [27] wins, that's a remarkable year. That's more than I expected. It hurt so bad after the game because they worked so hard for it. You know, it's a good life lesson. Sometimes you work hard for stuff, and you just don't get it. You just pick yourself up and move on."