Undefeated Cary-Grove (16-0) tops Jacobs

Playing against the best tends to rev a competitor’s engine higher than normal.

Facing Cary-Grove, the 2009 Class 4A state champion and 2010 state runner-up, the Jacobs girls volleyball team rode a wave of adrenaline to a 4-point lead midway through Tuesday’s first game, but the Trojans righted themselves and eventually rode away with the victory, 25-20, 25-13.

It was the 60th consecutive regular-season victory for Cary-Grove (16-0, 2-0), a streak that dates back to the Asics Tournament in October, 2009.

“Jacobs is a really scrappy team and they’re really well coached,” Cary-Grove coach Patty Langanis said. “We know if we give them any kind of opening that they’re going to take it.”

Game 1 was tied 9-9 when Jacobs (10-5, 1-1) broke free of the game’s third tie, thanks to the aggressive serving of junior Maris Smith, who delivered consecutive aces. Middle blocker Nikki Maddoch then stuffed a kill attempt by Cary-Grove’s Ashley Rosch to stake Jacobs to a 12-9 lead.

“Everything was clicking, everything was working well,” said Maddoch, one of only two seniors on the Jacobs roster.

Kills by Maddoch and Alyssa Ehrhardt (match-high 9 kills) led Langanis to call timeout with her Trojans trailing 15-11.

“They never do that, they never call timeout,” Smith said proudly. “I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, we could actually win this.’ It seemed real. But our errors led to our downfall.”

The Trojans emerged from the timeout with better serving, better serve receiving and better passing, all of which ignited a 10-4 run and put Jacobs on its heels. The Golden Eagles called the next timeout, trailing 20-18.

“On our side we were just kind of flat, I guess,” Rosch said. “Our defense broke down a bit, but we kind of pulled it back together. Jacobs was definitely playing very well. They were picking up balls and they were very offensive.”

Jacobs stayed within 24-20 on Smith’s third ace of the game, but four hits on the next point handed Game 1 to Cary-Grove, which subsequently dominated Game 2 from the outset.

An early kill by Sheila Wilhelmi gave Cary-Grove a side out, and Rosch scored the first of 7 straight service points on an ace. Creighton recruit Melanie Jereb delivered 2 of her 4 kills during the streak. Cary-Grove excelled in all phases to take leads of 13-2 and 20-5 before Jacobs made headway late against Langanis’ reserves.

Though the second game was a letdown, the first game showed the Golden Eagles what they can do when properly focused.

“I told them they’ve seen their potential,” Jacobs coach Lisa Dwyer said of her junior-heavy team. “Now, they have to learn how to handle it. They were so pumped to play. That’s the part we have to control. The second game we really struggled. Our sets were too tight, we were setting right into the blocks, we didn’t pass as well.”

Having taken yet another opponent’s best shot, the Trojans just keep focusing on improvement.

“Right now we’re definitely happy with where we are,” Cary-Grove senior middle Suzy Dorsey said, “but we know we need to keep going with the hard work ethic that got us here so we can reach our full potential.”