Anderson, Blue Jay volleyball 'shell-shocks' Legacy Tuesday

Oct. 5—JAMESTOWN — After suffering a 3-1 loss to Legacy back on Sept. 1, members of the Jamestown High School volleyball team boarded the bus and said:

"We can't wait for Legacy to come to Jamestown."

Tuesday night, Legacy was probably thinking something along the lines of:

"We can't wait to leave Jamestown."

The Blue Jays pulled together to completely dominate the Sabers, defeating them in straight sets to move to 11-2 in the West Region and 18-2 overall.

Legacy dropped to 11-2 in conference play and 14-6 overall.

Jamestown will host Mandan on Thursday at 7 p.m. Legacy will host Mandan on Oct. 11.

"Honestly I thought they looked kind of shell-shocked," JHS head volleyball coach Sara Hegerle said. "We just came out guns blazing and I think they were surprised at the level we were playing at.

"We are a much better team than we were when we played them last. Like, significantly better."

Hegerle said since the Jays last faced the Sabers, each one of her players has made strides in a positive direction.

Case in point: Kinley Anderson.

Anderson has been a new addition to the Jamestown varsity volleyball roster but the junior middle is no stranger to the game of volleyball.

She's been playing the game since sixth grade and while she started out as an outside, she has since transitioned to the middle blocker position and she's liking where she is at.

"I get to play a little bit of everything right now and I like switching it up," Anderson said. "I just have to have confidence in myself and make sure that I stay aggressive."

Anderson's powerhouse attacks this fall have been aided by her time spent competing in the throws for the JHS track and field team.

"I think all of the weightlifting that goes into throwing helps me with my speed and agility and I know that I can hit a ball pretty hard when I need to," Anderson said.

Anderson was surely needed throughout the match Tuesday

Set No. 1 began as a chess match with neither team earning more than a three-point advantage over the other.

Jamestown was trailing 13-11 but the offense managed to pick up speed and took a 15-14 lead. The lead soon grew to a 22-16 advantage. A few mistakes by the Sabers secured set No. 1 for the Jays 25-17

Anderson notched five kills and recorded a hitting average of .273.

"What a great time for her to have the best match of her career," Hegerle said. "It's just been building but she's been injured for most of the season so she's just working her way back to being in good health.

"She's pushed through some painful practices. She's been doing a good job all year but when you aren't at 100% it's hard to play at your top level. You can see now what she's capable of and it's awesome. I am really happy for her."

Anderson and the Blue Jays were clearly in control of the second set.

Their stops up front completely shut down any chance Legacy had on offense. Thanks to big blocks from Anderson, Makenna Nold and Haylie Hakanson the Jays soon found themselves up 22-14.

Anderson managed to make two solo stops at the net.

"I think that was our first line of defense and then when they could get it past us, we dug the ball," Hegerle said. "I thought we defended well at the net and behind our block. If you can play inspiring defense you can beat anybody."

Aspyn Peterson dug up 18 balls shot her way. Rylee Joseph also cracked into double digits with 15 digs.

Jamestown was soon up 24-17 but what they didn't count on was Legacy's ability to come back and make a game of it.

Reese Duchsherer's float serve proved capable of messing up the Jays' defenses and six points later, the Jays found themselves in danger of losing the set and match lead.

That's when the ability to stay composed was really key.

A knock to the center court found the floor and secured the Jays a second set win.

The home team was trailing for much of the final set.

A well-placed push from Bernadette Newman brought the Jays to within one of the game leaders. Newman absolutely obliterated the next ball that came her way to tie things at 14.

Jamestown couldn't be persuaded to give up the lead but instead, they built upon it to go up 23-19. One last kill from the Jays sealed the deal to notch the team's second consecutive sweep at home.

"Winning in three tonight was a big deal," Hegerle said. "That broke the tie with Legacy. We didn't really talk about that. We didn't even talk about winning. We just talked about competing hard and they did that tonight."

Jamestown 3, Legacy 0

LEG 17 23 20

JHS 25 25 25

Legacy — Kills: Reese Duchsherer 8, Brooklyn Brendel 6, Asiah Gross 4, Chelsa Krom 4, Madison Kolby 4, Halle Severson 3, JoAnna Fleckenstein 1. Assists: Colby 20, Paisley Kleven 2, Duchsherer 2, Krom 1, Brendel 1. Digs: Fleckenstein 13, Colby 9, Kleven 8, Gross 7, Duchsherer 3, Severson 2, Krom 2. Aces: Brooklyn Sand 1, Colby 1, Gross 1. Blocks: Brendel 2, Severson 1.

Jamestown — Kills: Bernadette Newman 19, Haylie Hakanson 11, Makenna Nold 7, Kinley Anderson 5, Leah Trumbauer 2, Benet Fronk 1. Assists: Nold 30, Edie Hegerle 9, Anderson 2, Rylee Joseph 1, Newman 1. Digs: Aspyn Peterson 18, Joseph 15, Nold 10, Hegerle 9, Newman 6, Breanna Oettle 2, Fronk 1, Hakanson 1, Trumbauer 1, Anderson 1. Aces: Peterson 1, Oettle 1, Hegerle 1, Anderson 1, Newman 1. Blocks: Anderson 2, Nold 2, Hakanson 1, Trumbauer 1.

Records: Legacy 11-2 WDA, 14-6 overall; Jamestown 11-2, 18-2