Sep. 12 -- JAMESTOWN -- Morgan Scott has only been a high schooler for a month and she already has stats at the varsity level.
The freshman middle hitter's first kill of her varsity career gave the Jamestown High School volleyball team its first home win of the season on Thursday.
Scott and her teammates topped Mandan 25-14, 25-20, 25-17 to move to 2-2 in the WDA standings and 7-3 overall. Next up for the Jays is a date with Bismarck Century on Tuesday. First serve is slated for 7 p.m. at Jerry Meyer Arena.
"She's a freshman and when we gave her a varsity uniform she almost started crying," JHS head volleyball coach Sara Hegerle said. "She was so surprised because it was the second match of the year. She looked really comfortable -- I was so happy she got a kill because that's a memory she is going to have for a long time."
Scott is one of three junior varsity players who were moved to the varsity roster due to an injury to senior Brooklyn Busch's knee.
"We have a lot of good, young players," Hegerle said. "They could play and be successful on the court. It's fun to see them out there and know that they have confidence in themselves and the team has confidence in them. They had a lot of fun and that's good because this is supposed to be fun."
It's hard for the game not to be fun when you play like the Jays did on Thursday.
Right away in the first. the Blue Jays jumped out to a fast start and quickly built a seven-point lead over the visitors. The momentum continued with the Jays reaching 20 points before Mandan got into the double-digits. The Braves managed to get to 14 before a smash from Leah Trumbauer ended set No. 1.
"It was a nice change to control the tempo -- we really passed and served well, we were able to our hitters were more consistent tonight -- swinging with confidence and being smart and Edie (Hegerle) ran the offense really well too so it was a good combination," Hegerle said.
Jetta Peterson led the Jays' defensive efforts with 19 digs while Hegerle pitched in 13. Hegerle was credited with 25 assists while Lucy Falk and Leah Trumbauer were the front row leaders with 11 and 10 kills respectively.
In the second Lilly Thomsen and Anna Lyles helped the Braves get as close as 20-24 but an over-the-net call put an end to their run and gave the Jays a 2-0 lead. Thomsen led Mandan in kills with eight while Lyles put five on the books.
Mandan went all out to start the third but as any coach will tell you, it's not about how a team starts.
Down 8-6, the Jays went on a 13-4 run to take a seven point lead over the Braves. Mari Anderson earned two of her nine kills in the final six points of the match while Falk continued to pound the outside to help set up match point. The infamous kill from Scott ended it 25-17.
"I thought we played really clean volleyball -- super fun," Hegerle said. "We talked before the game about how we need to worry less about what the other team is doing and focus on building our side of the net. Sometimes we're so focused on the other team that we end up reacting instead of being proactive. They were proactive and I was really proud of them for that."
MAN -- Kills: Lilly Thomsen 8, Anna Lyles 5, Gabriele Frohlich 2, McKenna Johnson 2. Assists: Ellie Thomsen 12, Frohlich 7. Digs: Hadley Harris 12, L. Thomsen 11, Lyles 9, E. Thomsen 8. Blocks: Milla Ehlis 3, Lyles 1, L. Thomsen 1, Holzer 1, Harris 1. Aces: E. Thomsen 2, L. Thomsen 1.
JHS -- Kills: Lucy Falk 11, Leah Trumbauer 10, Mari Anderson 9, Amelia Newman 5, Hannah Attleson 4, Edie Hegerle 1, Morgan Scott 1. Assists: Hegerle 25, Jetta Peterson 3, Newman 1, Falk 1. Digs: Peterson 19, Hegerle 13, Newman 10, Aunika Moser 6, Trumbauer 5, Falk 3, Anderson 2, Claire Marker 2, Scott 1. Blocks: Mari Anderson 2, Lucy Falk 1. Aces: Newman 2, Peterson 2, Hannah Erickson 1, Trumbauer 1.