Jays earn trip to state

Talk about it

The Jamestown High School volleyball team keeps knocking down pillars, and there’s plenty of enjoyment with the latest one.

The Blue Jays advanced to the championship match of the West Region tournament with an 18-25, 25-20, 25-16, 25-23 win Friday in Mandan. They play Bismarck Century at 4 p.m. today for the title.

More importantly, Jamestown secured a spot in next week’s Class A state tournament, set for the Minot State University Dome. Jamestown coach Sara Hegerle said the Blue Jays are making their first trip to state since 2001.

“They’re excited,” said Hegerle, who’s in her second year at the helm. “I think we’re gonna enjoy (the win). (Today), we’ll get back to business.”

The Blue Jays split with Dickinson during the regular season, losing in five on the road, but beating the Midgets in four at home.

Much like Thursday night against Minot, Jamestown lost the opening game. However, Hegerle said this time around, the Blue Jays didn’t play all that bad.

“We just made a few errors,” she said. “Game 2 started off right away.”

The Blue Jays (26-8) bounced back with relative ease, taking game 2. A strong finish by the Blue Jays in the third game gave them a commanding 2-1 lead.

Nonetheless, Dickinson (25-10) fought hard to tie the match in game 4 and Jamestown found itself leading by no more than two points late in the game. Ahead 24-23, senior Siri Jystad pounded the final kill.

“What winning tonight does is it takes some pressure off of us and gives us a better seed for the state tournament,” Hegerle said. “They took care of business tonight.”

Addie Eamon had a match-high 15 kills to go with four blocks, while Jystad added 11 kills and four aces. Billie Buchanan had eight kills, and McKayla Orr ended with 37 digs.

West Region tournament semifinal

Jamestown 3, Dickinson 1

Dickinson 25 20 16 23

Jamestown 18 25 25 25

Dickinson – Kills: Abby Grove 14, Ali Moody 10, Rachel Schroeder 7. Blocks: Schroeder 5, Taylor Cooper 4. Assists: Moody 24, Madison Schobinger 7. Digs: Jess Priebe 15, Mackie Hoffmann 15, Grove 11, Moody 11. Aces: Priebe 1, Hoffmannn 1, Grove 1, Moody 1.

Jamestown – Kills: Addie Eamon 15, Siri Jystad 11, Billie Buchanan 8. Blocks: Eamon 4, Hannah Heilman 1, Buchanan 1. Assists: Josie Hegerle 27, Rebekah Horgan 10, Jenna Stilwell 2. Digs: McKayla Orr 37, Meghan Orr 19, Julina Niemeier 13. Aces: Jystad 4, Me. Orr 2.

Records: Dickinson 25-10, Jamestown 26-8.

Sun sports writer Chris Aarhus can be reached at (701) 952-8462 or by email at caarhus@jamestownsun.com

Tags: sports, jays, volleyball