ONE GOAL AT A TIME

After advancing to Class 1A volleyball postseason for fourth straight season, Meridian Lady Jackets eliminated by Prairie Valley in Bi-District playoff matchup

Continuing to rebuild the young volleyball program rebooted only four years ago, the Meridian Lady Jackets advanced to the Class 1A state playoffs for the fourth straight season. Unfortunately, the success story ended there…for now.

With the restored program looking for its first playoff win, the Lady Jackets (4-4 in District 18-1A, 10-17 overall) were eliminated by the District 17-1A runner-up Prairie Valley Lady Bulldogs (6-3, 12-17) in straight sets, 25-17, 25-18, 25-16, last Tuesday in Mineral Wells.

“I thought it would be a tight match between us and them if we minimized our errors on our side,” Meridian volleyball head coach Lyndsie Schur said. “We had too many unforced errors on our side to keep it as tight as I had hoped. We did some really good things during the match, but had several mental errors that squashed our momentum.

“Like I told the girls last night, though, I do not want the way our game went last night to overshadow all of the great things we did this season. I could not be more proud of these girls and am excited to see how we build off of this year.”

After securing third place in District 18-1A and posting a convincing victory in their final regular season match of the year, the Lady Jackets believed they still had some unfinished business. But Prairie Valley carried some momentum into the postseason, winning six of their last eight matches to surge ahead of third place Forestburg (10-10) while finishing behind district champion and 14th-ranked Saint Jo (29-11).

“I’m very proud of the girls for doing their job and getting back in the playoffs,” Schur said. “It shows that they have taken pride in what it means to be a Lady Jacket and want to leave the program better than they found it.”

Despite not getting that elusive first playoff victory, the Lady Jackets enjoyed another successful season. But as it came to a close, Schur will bid farewell to her three seniors, Hope Cabrera, Evelyn Dirkse and Canyon Stauffer.

“Even though this senior group is small, it is going to be tough emotionally to lose them,” Schur said. “They are such a special group of kids that come in every day and do anything and everything that you ask, no matter what.

“With that said, they are able to lead in ways that I haven’t seen kids lead before. I think that’s because of the relationships that they have built with the underclassmen, and because they have the mentality to be the hardest working people in the gym. The underclassmen know what the expectations are just from watching the seniors.

“As far as skill and what they brought to the team, there are going to be some moving parts this next season due to losing both middle blockers and a setter. I always tell the girls to leave the program better than they found it, and this group certainly did that.”

Wrapping up the regular season on a winning note, the Lady Jackets swept past the Morgan Lady Eagles (1-7, 1-16), 25-15, 25-18, 25-19 in straight sets last Tuesday on Senior Night at Yellowjacket Gymnasium.

Junior Journey Stauffer led Meridian with nine kills and four digs, while senior Eve Dirkse smashed a game-high 10 service aces and senior Canyon Stauffer delivered eight set assists and three kills. Also contributing to the win, senior Hope Cabrera and sophomore Jasmin Brown slammed four kills each, while junior Mariana Paniagua presented seven set assists.

“I am very pleased with how we played against Morgan,” Schur said. “I challenged the girls with two things, and they executed both. One was to defend their court. Last time we played Morgan, we went to five sets and barely pulled out the victory due to a lot of unforced errors on our side. I wanted them to play hard and win in straight sets and we did.

“I also challenged them to get win number 10, which would double the most wins since we restored the program. I knew we should accomplish that goal, and I’m proud of the way that we did it.

“For a young program like us, you’re always pushing for progress. But to accomplish our goal of double wins in program history, that is big. That goal would not have been possible to reach without the leadership of our seniors, buy-in from the underclassmen, and support from our school, families and community. “