Friday, Sep. 25, 2009

Central survives another close call

Carlyle pushes Cougars to three games

BREESE -- This used to be a relatively stress-free week for the Central Cougars with Wesclin and Carlyle on the schedule.

Not anymore.

For the second time in three days, the Cougars were taken to three games by one of their Clinton County neighbors. They were able to survive an upset bid Thursday by Carlyle, beating the Indians 18-25, 25-19, 25-19.

On Tuesday, the Cougars (8-6) had to rally past Wesclin 17-25, 25-13, 25-21. Veteran Central coach Jim Cook said it's a sign of how far both programs have advanced.

"Both of those schools have definitely stepped up," Cook said. "It used to be we took this week and it was a pretty easy week and we used it to get ourselves organized. We have to come and play now.

"You take our side of the conference ... I know Red Bud has struggled because of height (issues), but you have Columbia, Freeburg, Wesclin, Carlyle and us. You have to come and play every day."

Indeed, there are no gimmes anymore in the Mississippi Division of the Cahokia Conference. Freeburg, Central, Carlyle and Wesclin occupy the top four spots in the News-Democrat Small-School poll.

Carlyle (16-2) has proven it can hang with the top teams. Now, the Indians must learn how to deliver the knockout punch.

On Sept. 15, Carlyle took defending Class 2A champion Freeburg to three games before losing 22-25, 25-12, 25-18. The Indians took Game 1 against Central but couldn't muzzle the Cougars' hitters in the final two games.

The Indians are long past the stage of settling for a moral victory.

"We got a set off of them, but my girls want to win," said Carlyle coach Jennifer Jasper. "They're not satisfied with getting a set off a team. They're not satisfied with getting a set off Freeburg or a set off Columbia; they want to win the game.

"We have to figure out how to play under pressure. We felt pressured and we struggled with that. We couldn't get our passes, and then we don't hit. You can't do that. You have to hit all the time."

Junior outside hitter Nicole Schaeffer had a match-high 13 kills while freshman middle-hitter Paige Rakers had five for the Indians, who took advantage of 14 errors by Central to win Game 1.

"The first game, we're not into it at all," Cook said. "The other two games, we played and dug up some balls. Again, it's the missed serves. We'll rattle off four of five points, miss a serve and give them back two or three points. Against hitters like that, you better not give them any. They can come with the ball."

Central cleaned up its play after the first game, committing just 11 errors the rest of the match. The Cougars also got their hitting and blocking game in gear.

Junior middle hitter Jena Hemann had a team-high nine kills and three blocks, while senior Kelsey Johnson had six kills and five blocks -- four coming in Game 2. Brenda Stroot added seven kills for the Cougars.

"We knew they would play hard and we knew they would hit the ball," Jasper said. "We just couldn't handle it. Jena hits well. My gosh, she can jump about five feet in the air, and we couldn't handle that. It made us fall apart."

Central led 6-1 in Game 3 before a six-point service run by Lindsey Brinkmann put Carlyle up 7-6. The Cougars would eventually take an 18-13 lead, but Carlyle pulled within one at 20-19 on an Emily Seiffert tip shot.

Stroot closed out the match for the Cougars, serving the final four points.

"We're beginning to find ways to win," Cook said. "We weren't doing that before. We keep digging ourselves a hole, but at least we did come back."