High school volleyball: Palestine gets first home district win of season against Rusk
Oct. 5—PALESTINE — The Palestine Ladycats (2-2) secured their first home district win of the season in four sets over the Rusk Lady Eagles Tuesday.
First-year Palestine Volleyball Coach Stephanie Dillard can add another first to her resume this year as she earned her first home district win with the Ladycats.
"I found very quickly that this is an amazing place," Dillard said. "This is a place my family is supposed to be.
A collaborative effort between multiple contributors got Palestine back to .500 Tuesday. Jaylah Spurlock was on fire at the net all night as she finished with a team-high of 16 kills. Jan'aa Johnson followed her with 15 kills, four digs, six aces and a block.
The two hitters allowed Palestine to build a 13-9 lead in the first set, which forced Rusk to use its first timeout. However, Palestine's momentum didn't waiver as they eventually extended their lead to six behind a block from Johnson.
The Ladycats had several opportunities to close the first set after going up 24-19, but a 5-0 run from Rusk locked things back up at 24. The two sides went back-and-forth before an ace from Johnson set up the final point on a serving error from Rusk. Palestine won the first set 29-27.
The second set saw an additional struggle for either side to completely pull away. The set was tied 10 different times until Rusk finally broke free of the final 15-15 tie with a 3-0 run. From there, the Lady Eagles outscored Palestine 7-3 to take the frame 25-19.
Spurlock helped spearhead Palestine's run in the third set as she recorded six kills. Rylie Schwab used the final two sets to truly display her defensive prowess, which led her towards 55 digs on the night.
After Rusk took the first point, Palestine never trailed from that moment. An ace from Schwab later set up the match point on a tip from Savannah Alder. Alder finished the night with 38 assists, 12 digs and five kills.
Palestine carried the lead for a majority of the fourth set. Kills from Spurlock, Alder and Hope Garcia helped them maintain a 9-7 advantage. Rusk was able to tie the score at 10. Johnson registered kills in the next few sequences that helped the Ladycats create a 15-12 lead, which resulted in a Rusk timeout.
The timeout proved to be beneficial as it ignited a 6-0 run. Palestine responded with a 4-0 run to jump in front 19-18. Rusk leap-frogged them once again — taking a 21-19 lead. Their rising momentum warranted a Palestine timeout.
"We needed this game," Dillard said in her message to the team during the huddle. "We hadn't performed well at home the last few games and we needed to change that. Mentally it puts them in a better place. We struggle sometimes with adversity and finding that success and building off it. They are making the improvements we need to grow."
Palestine exited the huddle looking for a final push. A kill from Kelsey Grayson, a tip from Alder and a push shot from Schwab had them back in front, 24-23, before a final ace from Alder closed the set 25-23.
Garcia finished with five fills, Vivian Eckerman had 19 digs, Malina Thompson had 15 digs, Ju'Mija Clewis recorded six digs and two aces. Chimsi Okonkwo and Grayson each had three kills. Grayson also had two blocks.
"We're getting much better at not depending on one person," Dillard said. "As a team, they're doing a much better job of stepping up and supporting each other. I tell them 10 toes behind each other. Make sure you know you got someone with 10 toes behind you supporting you. That was important on tonight's win that they know people have your back. We've been working on team building and mental toughness. I feel that's coming to fruition."
Palestine improves to 2-2 in the district with a road game against the Hudson Lady Hornets on the horizon Friday.
