United South Central volleyball falls to Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton

 

WELLS — The United South Central volleyball team hosted Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton Monday night in a Section 2A first round playoff matchup.

The Rebels battled back from trailing two sets to zero to force a fifth set with the Bulldogs.

The run would stop in the fifth set for the Rebels, as the Bulldogs pulled away to win the five-set thriller 3-2.

United South Central came out to a handful of mistakes in the first set and was quickly on the wrong end of a 5-1 deficit. JWP then started to commit a few errors of its own and allowed United South Central to come back and take the lead after a 9-3 run.

Junior Josie Schumann was a presence at the net, both offensively and defensively. Schumann, along with the setting of junior Myah Gormley, were a big part of what kept the Rebels alive in the first set. The set was a race once both teams reached 10, with neither pulling more than two points ahead of the other. Schumann and sophomore Sam Swanson each had a major kill that sent waves of momentum through the Rebels bench. However, the Rebels came up just short in the first set, 25-23.

United South Central started the second set with a few communication errors, however, this time the mistakes did not allow JWP to climb out to a big lead. Both teams traded the lead back-and-forth multiple times in the set. JWP got out to a small three-point lead at 18-15, but promptly let United South Central back into the match.

The Bulldogs took a timeout with a 18-17 lead before the game was again tied at 22-22. The breaks proved to be monumental for the Bulldogs, as they won the next three points to win the set, 25-22.

The Rebels got out to a small lead in the third and kept it for a majority of the set. The Bulldogs decided to take a timeout trailing 21-18, but this time saw the opposite result, as the Rebels flew to a 25-18 third-set win. 

United South Central cruised to a 6-1 lead in the fourth set. After a JWP timeout, United South Central kept its momentum rolling, getting to a 10-5 lead.

Again, the Rebels held onto their lead for a majority of the set, but slowly allowed the Bulldogs to inch their way back in. The comeback attempts were thwarted by Schumann and company, as the Rebels rallied to win the set, 25-16.

The Bulldogs came out firing on all cylinders in the fifth and final set, climbing to a 9-3 lead. However, the Rebels were not ready to throw in the towel just yet, as they clawed back to within three points of the Bulldogs. The damage had been done, however, as the Bulldogs pulled away and won the set 15-9.

The loss ends the Rebels’ season with a record of 8-18.