Washington split a pair of home volleyball matches during the week, but won a key GAC Central contest against Ft. Zumwalt South.
The Lady Jays (13-15-1, 5-2) won Tuesday over FZS, 25-20, 23-25, 25-13, and lost Wednesday to Eureka, 25-18, 25-18.
Washington and Ft. Zumwalt North are tied for the conference lead with 5-2 records with one match left to play. WHS plays Tuesday at Holt while North hosts South on the same night.
“Winning the conference would be really great for our team for this season,” said Washington Head Coach Kym Blankenship.
In the meantime, the Lady Jays host Borgia Monday for senior night. Freshman and junior varsity action starts at 5 p.m.
Ft. Zumwalt South
Washington took control of the third and deciding game to defeat FZS (8-13, 3-4).
“I saw a carryover from the Hermann game on focus and fire. The girls played tough from the start to the end of each game,” Blankenship said. “The entire team played hard. We were able to blow South away in the third game. Finishing strong is what we’re capable of and that was what we needed to do.”
Erica Diener led the Lady Jays’ defense with 17 digs. Kelly Gauzy added eight digs.
“I am very happy with my defensive players,” Blankenship said. “Diener had a great night. She’s always a fierce defensive player. Gauzy does a great job for us.”
Kara Herron finished with eight kills. Rachel Jackson added six kills and nine digs. Olivia Strode registered five kills. Hannah Leslie and Andrea Zoellner both had two kills.
Elizabeth Brinkmann collected 17 assists. Emily Voss had seven assists.
Eureka
Washington lost in two games to Class 4 District 3 rival Eureka (14-10).
“We started flat and ended flat. We had moments of greatness with some great digs by Diener and blocks and kills by Herron. We just couldn’t stop some of Eureka’s big hitters,” Blankenship said. “They had a very strong left-handed player (Jory Siebenmorgen) who could crush the line. At times, our right-side blocker, Jenna (Barnhart), was getting hit over.”
Zoellner finished the match with four kills on four attempts with no errors.
“Andrea had a great hitting night. We didn’t have control of the game for very long at any given time. It always felt like we were playing catch up,” Blankenship said. “Eureka is a very strong team, but we could have played them a lot tougher.”
