Central volleyball team capitalizes vs. short-handed Jackson

The Central volleyball team capitalized on a short-handed Jackson squad missing four starters.

That did little to detract from the excitement the Tigers felt in defeating the host Indians 25-22, 24-26, 25-15 on Tuesday night.

"It's always nice to beat Jackson," senior Chelsea Pannier said. "I think we did very well. It was probably our best game all season."

Added senior Chelsey Brown: "It was a good match. It would have been even better if they would have had all their starters, but we still got a win."

Central improved to 7-7-2 while Jackson dropped to 7-6.

Central's Lexis Nutt passes the ball as teammate Tori Scheller, right, backs her up during the first game of Tuesday's match in Jackson. (Kristin Eberts)

"It was a good win," Central coach Charity Huff said.

The Indians' four missing regulars were serving disciplinary suspensions.

"That hurts," Jackson coach Maile Gannon said. "I can't necessarily kill the ones that played. They did the best they could."

Pannier led Central in kills with 10 and added two service aces.

Brown had a strong all-around match with seven kills, eight digs and four aces.

Cape Central players celebrate a point during the second game of a match in Jackson on Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010. (Kristin Eberts)

Sophomore Katie Williams added six kills and two aces, junior Megan Myers dished out 17 assists and sophomore Mollie Nelms contributed seven digs.

Jackson was paced by sophomore Melinna Craft with nine kills and three blocks. She had no attack errors for a sizzling .600 hitting percentage.

"That's fantastic," Gannon said.

Senior Laurie Clippard had five kills and five blocks while junior Julia Weber added four kills and five blocks. Freshman Chelsea Fowler recorded 21 assists and three aces.

Gannon lamented Jackson's numerous errors, including 15 service errors compared to seven aces.

Jackson's Julia Weber, left, and Lyndsey Hinkebein go up for a block against Central's Katie Williams during the first game of Tuesday's match.

"Serving errors killed us," Gannon said. "We had too many errors. ... Sloppy."

The Tigers controlled game one most of the way as they bolted to a quick 6-0 lead.

Jackson managed two ties, at 17-17 and 22-22, but never could go ahead.

Pannier's kill put Central up for good at 23-22. Brown then served an ace and ended the game with a kill.

Game two was tight throughout, with eight ties and six lead changes.

Central's Chelsea Pannier hits past the block of Jackson's Lyndsey Hinkebein during the second game Tuesday. (Kristin Eberts)

Central was within one point of a sweep as it led 24-21, but two errors by the Tigers and a Fowler ace saved three match points as Jackson forged a 24-24 tie.

Another Central error put Jackson ahead and another Fowler ace evened things at one game apiece.

"We've had trouble with that," Pannier said of closing out matches.

But the Tigers stayed strong.

"Once we lost, we were ready to give it to them the third game," Brown said.

Central did just that despite falling behind 3-0.

Trailing 6-5, the Tigers scored four straight points. They took a 7-6 lead on an ace by junior Tori Scheller and never looked back.

The Tigers steadily pulled away, thanks largely to a flurry of Jackson errors, and closed out the victory with the 25-15 romp.

"I was really proud of them because they didn't drop their heads [after losing the second game]," Huff said. "We're improving each game. That's what we need to do."