For the first time in program history, the University of Jamestown women’s volleyball team has finished the regular season undefeated. The Jimmies finish the season 28-0 overall and 16-0 in the GPAC. The Tigers finish the season 22-8 overall and 10-6 in conference play.
The opening serve from the Tigers’ Mariah Gloe was hit out of play by Hannah Schiele to give the Tigers the early 1-0 lead. Jayla Ritter tied the game up at 1 with a kill of her own moments later. The Jimmies sprinted out to a 10-5 lead thanks to a kill from Anna Holen drawing a timeout from the Tigers. It was a run that saw the Jimmies stretch a 6-5 lead out with 4 consecutive points. A spike from Anna Holen put the kibosh on a Tigers run to make it 13-9 in favor of the Jimmies. After a kill from Megan Gaffaney, to make it 18-11 in favor of the Jimmies, the Tigers head coach, Lindsay Wilber called a timeout. Out of the timeout, the Tigers went on a run that saw them score back-to-back points to make the set 18-12, before Taylor Sabinash and Corina Huff stretched the Jimmies lead to 20-13.
Jackie Meiklejohn spiked one that just snuck inside the line to give the Jimmies the first set, 25-17.
The Tigers took an early 5-3 lead in the second set, before Aleah Zieske hit one that eluded the Tigers players and made it 5-4. Zieske rose up and slammed the ball down to give the Jimmies the 13-10 lead in the second set, drawing a timeout from the Tigers. Out of the timeout, the Jimmies went on a 6-0 run to stretch their lead to 16-10. Dakota Wesleyan called another timeout after Zieske made the score 19-11. Ritter climbed the ladder and blocked a ball down to the floor to give the Jimmies the second set, 25-17.
“I think we have a lot of confidence. I think sometimes though we get a little complacent and so I really challenged our players to play at a higher level in set three and I was really happy with how they responded,” Jimmies head coach Jon Hegerle said.
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The Jimmies bench erupted as Hannah Schiele dove after a ball and was able to keep it in before Sabinash slammed it down to give the Jimmies the 1-0 lead in the third set. The Tigers' Gloe forced Sabinash to mis-hit the ball and send it out of bounds to make the game 11-7 in favor of the Jimmies. Ritter lifted off and got the kill to stretch the Jimmies' lead to 18-9, drawing another timeout from the Tigers. Kalli Hegerle rose up and got the kill to give the Jimmies the 20-9 lead. Hegerle had a ball hit off a Tigers’ hands and out of play to give the Jimmies the 25-11 third set win and the 3-0 match win.
“It feels good, but last year was such a long season. We had to mentally prepare that after Christmas break we had a whole nother go around, so I think that’s what’s making this feel so much quicker cause we don’t have that spring season now. Hopefully, we are able to just enjoy the rest of the season as much as we can,” the Jimmies Anna Holen said.
The Jimmies are expected to host Doane University on Saturday, Nov. 6 at Harold Newman Arena in the first round of the GPAC tournament.
DWU 0, UJ 3
DWU: 17 17 11----0
UJ: 25 25 25----3
Kills leaders:
DWU: Ady Dwight 10, Mariah Gloe 5, Mackenzie Miller 3
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UJ: Anna Holen 13, Kalli Hegerle 10, Aleah Zieske 9
Blocks leaders:
DWU: Mariah Gloe 3, Madeline Else 2, Ady Dwight 2
UJ: Jayla Ritter 6, Anna Holen 3, Kalli Hegerle 3
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