SETTING THE GOLD STANDARD

Building on this season & looking ahead to a positive future, Meridian Lady Jackets bow out in Class 1A Bi-District playoff on third straight trip to the postseason

Despite making their third consecutive trip to the postseason, the Meridian Lady Jacket volleyball team once again made an early exit from the playoffs as the Gold-Burg Lady Bears swept to a straight set victory, 25-19, 25-15, 25-14, in a Class 1A Bi-District playoff matchup Nov. 1 at Boyd High School.

Even though they lost all of their non-district matches, the Lady Jackets (4-4 in District 18-1A, 4-24 overall) patiently bought into the plan and perseverance provided the rewards once the district competition began. Advancing to the Class 1A postseason as District 18-1A’s third place team, Meridian still needs to take its game to the next level to challenge in the postseason.

“We started out strong, but unfortunately, we let a few mistakes really hurt our play,” Meridian’s first-year head coach Lyndsie Schur said. “Although the scoreboard didn’t show it much this season, I am really proud of the improvement that was made since August 1. The future is extremely bright for Lady Jacket volleyball.”

Against Gold-Burg (9-17), senior Abby Edwards led the Lady Jackets with five kills and three service aces, followed by junior Eve Dirske, junior Hope Cabrera and sophomore Journey Stauffer with three kills apiece.

While district champion Blum (31-13) clinched their fifth state tournament appearance in the last six years with a straight set sweep over Saint Jo, 25-18, 25-17, 25-8, in the Class 1A, Region III final Saturday, the district runner-up Covington Lady Owls (8-16) were eliminated by the Prairie Valley Lady Bulldogs in their Bi-District matchup.

“We had to change our mindset this season from being able to get into the playoffs as a four- seed to making it our mission to get in as the third seed, at least,” Schur said. “I am very proud of how hard the girls have worked this season to ensure we did just that. They have shown tremendous fight and grit all season, and I’m excited for what is to come in the postseason.”

Snapping a two-game losing streak, the Lady Jackets wrapped up the regular season with an impressive straight set victory over the Morgan Eagles, 25-19, 25-16, 25-23 at Yellow Jacket Gymnasium. Sophomore Journey Stauffer led Meridian with six kills, followed by Cabrera and junior Canyon Stauffer with five each. Journey and Canyon Stauffer both delivered 10 service aces apiece, while Canyon dished out a team-high five assists.

“I’m really proud of the improvements that the girls have shown,” Schur said. “We struggled when we played them the first time. But this time, we took care of business. Ending district with a win is great momentum heading into playoffs.”

Before wrapping up the regular season against Morgan, the Lady Jackets took their lumps by getting swept by Class 1A’s third-ranked and district champion Blum Lady Bobcats, 25-5, 25-4, 25-4, and then lost in four sets to second place Covington, 23-25, 25-16, 25-14, 25-15, last Friday. Senior Catherine Lunsford, Dirkse and Cabrera smashed three kills each, while Canyon Stauffer delivered six service aces.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t play to our potential against Covington,” Schur said. “They did a good job of executing on our weaknesses, and we had a hard time getting out of a funk.”

Against Blum, the Lady Jackets were unable to put together and offense to speak of with the exception of service aces by Edwards and Lunsford.

“We had a really rough night passing against Blum,” Schur said. “And when you’re struggling on the passing side of things, it makes it really hard to get in a rhythm and run an offense. Blum is a very aggressive and fundamentally sound team that kept us out of rhythm all night.”

Meridian opened the second round of district play by completing the season sweep over the Kopperl Lady Eagles, 25-11, 27-25, 25-22, moving one step closer to clinching a postseason berth. Led by Canyon Stauffer with eight kills, Meridian defeated the Lady Eagles in straight sets.

“We started out very well tonight against Kopperl,” Schur said. “Then, we let off the gas in the second and third sets. “But we were able to battle that adversity to win the game in straight sets.”

Behind Canyon Stauffer’s big game, Dirske delivered a game-high six service aces along with three kills, followed by sophomore Mariana Paniagua with four and Edwards with three, while Cabrera contributed three blocks.

With the Bi-District playoff loss, the Lady Jacket volleyball program will say goodbye to six seniors – Edwards, Catherine Lunsford, Meryl Roberson, Abigail Lucas, Courtney Lunsford and Aletheia Sandley – who have been instrumental in re-establishing the sport at Meridian High School.

“I am losing a big group of seniors this year that have really made a positive impact on our program,” Schur said. “Their leadership, by their words and actions, have set the tone for what is to come of Lady Jacket volleyball. They have done a tremendous job of holding teammates accountable and buying into the changes that we have made. Their level of buy-in has set the norm of what is expected of the next girls.”

Despite the heavy losses to graduation, Schur remains excited about the future of Lady Jacket volleyball with three juniors and four sophomores returning as lettermen with valuable experience.

“Even after losing several seniors, we still have a good group of girls coming back,” Schur said. “I will have seven girls coming back that have quality playing time. One thing we struggled with this year was confidence, and I think part of that came from lack of experience. I am very excited for what is to come for us.”