Jays fall in five

On the brink of pulling out the biggest victory of the season, the Jamestown High School volleyball team needed one decisive blow.

Leading 24-21 in the third set, the Blue Jays were just one point away from polishing off a sweep of the second-ranked team in the West Region.

Instead, Dickinson High School rallied to deal Jamestown its most disheartening loss of the year.

The Midgets, after dropping the first two sets 26-24 and 25-21, turned the tides with an improbable 27-25 win in the third set that helped set up a 25-7 win in the fourth and a 15-12 win in the fifth.

"In the third (set) we were a done deal," said Dickinson coach Jay Schobinger. "There was a stretch there where we were basically done. I have to give the girls credit, they found a way to sneak that one out.

"I've been doing this a long time and nothing ever ceases to amaze me."

The Midgets went on a 6-1 run to end the third set, despite the Blue Jays controlling the match up until that point.

Dickinson's Ali Moody started the run with a block and Leslie Beaudoin registered a kill to knot it up at 24-all.

Jamestown got back up when Katie Ramlo set up Josie Hegerle with a kill, but then a Madison Deibert kill put Dickinson in driver's seat.

"That's where you have to have the mindset of, 'We deserve to win,'" said Jamestown coach Sara Hegerle. "It all comes down to confidence."

A Jamestown error and a Beaudoin ace gave Dickinson the win and all the momentum.

Dickinson took control of the fourth set right away by jumping out to an immediate 6-0 lead.

Taylor Cooper had back-to-back kills to spark the run and two Jamestown errors capped it off.

"We made more errors than them, and that's basically what happened in the end," Hegerle said. "They started hitting the ball and we couldn't."

The Midgets built their lead to an insurmountable 16-4 lead before closing it out on a 7-4 run.

"I wasn't surprised that Game 4 happened that way," Hegerle said. "We all felt like we had just gotten punched in the stomach, and it's really hard to come out and play with a lot of energy when you're so deflated."

The Blue Jays came out more energized in the final set and put themselves back in position to pull out the victory.

An Addie Eamon made a block capped off a 7-4 run that gave the Blue Jays an 11-8 lead, but once again Jamestown couldn't close.

Diebert delivered a kill and Jamestown committed an error to narrow the gap to one point.

Dickinson's Abby Grove gave the Midgets a 13-12 lead with a kill and then Beaudoin closed it out with a kill and a block.

"Jamestown was playing great volleyball," Schobinger said. "They were playing awesome defense. ... We just needed to eliminate errors. We had way too many offensive hitting errors early on."

Diebert finished the night with 21 kills and 26 digs. Beaudoin and Abby Grove had 11 kills apiece, while Ali Moody dished out 49 assists.

Beadoin led the Midgets at the net with 4 blocks and Melissa Sipma anchored the defense with 39 digs.

Jamestown (8-5 West Region, 16-10 overall) is now tied with Mandan for third in the West Region, while the Midgets (9-2, 24-7) remain alone in second.

"This was a good test for both teams," Schobinger said. "Both teams are going to be better because of tonight."

In the first two sets, Jamestown was the team rallying.

The Blue Jays rallied from down 9-4 in the first frame and then again from 16-11 in the second, but from then on the late rallies changed hand.

"It took us a few points to get going, but then all of a sudden we dug a couple of balls and then we got going," Hegerle said. "It was just fun to watch them play with that much energy and that much enthusiasm."

Jystad led the offense once again with 17 kills, followed by 16 kills from Katie Ramlo, who was all over the court. The senior setter also dished out a team-high 25 assists on top of making five blocks.

McKayla Orr dug up 46 balls and Kayla Thoele registered two aces.

Jamestown returns to action on Tuesday as hosts to Bismarck, while Dickinson will hit the road for a West Region match with Williston on Thursday, Oct. 27.

"They're not going to forget (this loss)," Hegerle said. "You could see the look on their faces when they were getting really close (to a victory). They wanted it so bad and they were hungry to get that win. They're doing the work to get there, it's just going to take a little more confidence."

Dickinson 3, Jamestown 2

Dickinson 24 21 27 25 15

Jamestown 25 25 25 7 12

Dickinson -- Kills, Madison Diebert 21, Leslie Beaudoin 11, Abby Grove 11, Rachel Schroeder 10. Assists, Ali Moody.Digs, Melissa Sipma 39, Diebert 26, Molly Miller 12. Aces, Moody 3, Sipma 2, Beaudoin 1, Diebert 1, Morgan Grosulak 1. Blocks, Beaudoin 4, Schroeder 3, Moody 2.

Jamestown -- Kills, Siri Jystad 17, Katie Ramlo 16, Steph Kropp 7, Josie Hegerle 7, Addie Eamon 4, Kayla Thoele 3. Assists, Ramlo 25, Hegerle 23. Digs, McKayla Orr 46, McKayla Keller Kropp 15, Hegerle 11. Aces, Thoele 2, Ramlo 1, Hegerle 1. Blocks, Jystad 5, Ramlo 5, Eamon 5, Hegerle 3, Thoele 1.