ELLISVILLE – The 25th-ranked Jones College Bobcats earned a four-set victory over Copiah-Lincoln Monday night, winning the first-ever meeting between the two programs in the Wolves' inaugural match. After dropping the opening set 25-21, the Bobcats (5-2 overall) responded by taking the next three, 25-21, 25-21 and 25-23.
"We came out a little slow, and I think in the end, with some of the sophomore leadership that we have, we were able to respond with the second, third set and fourth sets," head coach John Dussouy said. "We're still having a little bit of freshman mistakes, but I think over time this team will start to trust each other. We have the talent, we have the athletic ability. We've just got to put it all together."
Jones struggled to find its rhythm offensively in the opening set, recording 11 kills against 10 attack errors on 30 attempts for a .033 hitting percentage. Copiah-Lincoln (0-1) took advantage and claimed the first set, 25-21.
Jones responded with a much cleaner offensive performance in the second, by collecting 12 kills with five errors on 31 attacks to raise their hitting percentage to .226 and even the match 1-1 with a 25-21 victory.
The Bobcats continued to settle in offensively during the third set, finishing with a match-high 14 kills on 32 attacks. They hit .219 in the frame and earned another 25-21 win to take a 2-1 advantage in the match.
The fourth set proved to be the tightest one after the opener. Jones turned in its most efficient offensive set of the night, committing just three errors on 21 attacks while hitting .333. The Bobcats held off the Wolves for a 25-23 victory to finish the match in four sets.
Jones finished with 47 kills while hitting .193 as a team and recorded 44 assists, 10 service aces, 66 digs and four total blocks.
LEADING THE WAY
Izzi Barnes (Gulfport) delivered an efficient performance at the net, finishing with 12 kills without an error on 15 attacks for an .800 hitting percentage.
Myah Favre (Pass Christian; OLA) matched Barnes with a team-high 12 kills and added a block assist.
Selah Sandridge (Madison; MRA) finished with seven kills, three service aces, four digs and a solo block.
Amaya Wilson (Olive Branch; Northpoint Christian) recorded six kills on 10 attacks for a .400 hitting percentage while adding two service aces, six digs and a solo block.
"She did a very good job on the serve to keep them from attacking us, getting a good ball and then allowing our offense to take control." Dussouy said of Wilson.
Jailly Vance (New Orleans, La.; Isidore Newman) continued her strong start, by adding six kills.
Claire Wicker (Oxford) directed the Bobcat offense with 38 assists and also contributed 13 digs, four kills, two service aces and a block assist.
"She is definitely a competitor. She doesn't want to lose," Dussouy said of Wicker. "She's done a great job of running the offense, and this is really her first time, and even though she's a sophomore running our offense, she wasn't a setter last year. She's doing a very good job with her decisions."
Olivia Guth (Poplarville; Lakeshore) led the Jones defense with 17 digs and added a service ace.
UP NEXT
The Bobcats return to action Tuesday at home against Reid State. First serve is slated for 5 pm.
Tickets are available online for $8 at
jcbobcats.com/tickets. Price increases to $10 cash/$11 card at the door. All home matches are streamed online at
jcbobcats.com/watch.
