Lady Miners top SHS in conference battle

Shakamak senior Jessica Gilbert (11) battles the Linton-Stockton duo of Megan Barnes (27) and Tricia Emmons during a conference volleyball contest at Jasonville Thursday. (By B.J. Hargis/Greene County Daily World). [Order this photo]

The Lady Miners pushed its season record to 17-8 overall. The remain in the driver's seat as they are 5-0 in the Southwestern Indiana Athletic Conference and 4-0 in the Tri-River Conference.

"I think that both teams played hard," said Linton-Stockton coach Penny Dunn. "You always know what to expect when you play Shakamak.

"It is always going to be a competitive and hard fought. And it is always going to be big part of determining who wins both conferences."

Shakamak coach Jeri Morin watched her team slip to 15-9 overall, 3-2 in the SWIAC and 3-1 in the TRC.

"Linton is a very good hitting team," said Morin. "They are very scrappy.

"The match could have went either way for the first three games. We just did not come up with enough big points at the right time."

Shakamak scored 14 of the first 22 points as they were in control of the opening game.

But Samantha Butt, who finished with six kills, 15 digs, two aces and 16 points on 22 of 23 serving, connected on nine serves in a row as the Lady Miners forged ahead 18-14 in game one.

Near the end of game three, Butt made four straight serves as Linton-Stockton took advantage of three straight Shakamak errors and turned a 20-all score into a 24-20 advantage. A kill by Brittany Rehmel (14 kills, one block and three digs) ended game three, putting the Lady Miners ahead two games to one.

Megan Barnes had 17 kills to pace the Lady Miners. She also had two blocks, one dig and three aces on 17 of 19 serving.

Tricia Emmons finished with four kills, three blocks and four digs. She made 7 of 9 attempts on serve.

"I think everyone played well on both sides of the net," said Dunn. "We had really good play in the front row by everyone on all six of our rotations."

Game two also was close. There were ties at 6, 10, 11, 16, 19 and 20.

A miscue by Linton-Stockton put the Lady Lakers up 21-20 and on serve. Another miscue and an ace by SHS freshman Mikayla Crane (13 of 14 serving, seven points, one ace, 11 kills, four digs and two blocks) put Shakamak ahead 23-20.

Shakamak senior Jessica Gilbert (12 of 13 serving, eight points, two aces, 16 kills, two digs and a pair of blocks) took a pass from sister Amanda Gilbert and put down a kill for a 24-21 advantage.

The Lady Miners were unable to set up a serve by Amanda Gilbert, who tallied 29 assists, seven digs, one ace, eight points (13 of 14 serving), ending game two and evening the match.

"There wasn't a lot of different in winning and losing any of the first three games," said Morin. "They were all close, but they just made a few more plays than we did."

Linton-Stockton never trailed in the decisive fourth game. Shakamak closed to within two points -- 8-6 -- but Barnes had two aces during a 6-0 run as the Lady Miners forged ahead 20-10. Rehmel had a kill and a block on consecutive plays at the net and the Lady Lakers had two defensive miscues during that stretch.

"We just did not play with the same kind of intensity in the fourth game," said Morin. "We got down and the girls did not respond very well.

"But there were a lot of positives that we can take from this. Marki had a really good night serving."

Marki Collins did not miss in 19 attempts, finishing with 12 points, three aces, four kills and 15 digs. Stacey Durham made 3 of 5 serves and had three kills and five digs.

Also for Shakamak, Holli Moore missed just once in 12 attempts on serve. She finished with four points, one ace, one assist, one kill, seven digs and a pair of blocks.

Lacey Gilbert was 3 of 3 on serve. She had one points and four digs.

Jazmine Martin had seven digs, matching the output of Kristi Pearson. Kylee Grissom was credited with four digs and Lacy Ashcraft added one dig.

Linton-Stockton sophomore Bradlea Beard had 24 assists, four kills, 13 digs and was 7-for-8 serving. Izzy Carpenter was 15 of 18 serving to go with 23 assists, one kill, five digs and two aces.

Kelsy Andis was credited with three digs while Taneal Church collected two assists, three kills and five digs.

Jannae Jackson had four digs and Savannah Mason had 13 digs and one ace on 13 of 14 serving.

"Our serve receive still needs some work," said Dunn. "We missed 12 serves (85 of 97). That is something we are constantly working on.

"But this was a very good conference win. We have played 10 matches in the last 11 days. The girls are looking forward to some time off."

Linton-Stockton won the JV contest 25-15, 25-24, improving to 16-3.

For the Lady Miners, Sydney Lehman had seven aces, four kills and three digs. Alex Daluga added one kill and six digs.

Andis had six digs and Kayla Cox finished with one ace, 10 assists, two kills and two digs.

Jackson finished with one ace, four kills and a pair of digs. Hali Murray tallied five aces, eight assists, two kills, one block and three digs. Kelsy Foglesong added four kills and two digs.

Cassandra Holdaway was 8 of 8 serving with five points, six kills and one blocks for Shakamak. Riley Montgomery had four kills and Taylor Myers dished out 13 assists. Lacey Gilbert finished with six digs, nine points, five aces and made 11 of 12 attempts on serve.

Linton-Stockton will host Bloomfield Monday while Shakamak will entertain Clay City on the same night.