VOLLEYBALL: Lady Indians start strong, but lose to Carterville

After one set and the first five points of the second, it looked as though Du Quoin was on their way to the first varsity volleyball conference win of the season against Carterville on Thursday night at home.

But the Lady Lions rallied back, took advantage of some Lady Indian mistakes, and found a way to get out of the DHS auxiliary gym with a 21-25, 25-21, 25-21 win.

"I think we did a lot of really good things in the first game, even into the second game," said Du Quoin coach Jo Dill. "The second game was well-played on both sides. The third game we gave them nine points off their first two servers and we lost by four."

The second set was back and forth after Du Quoin jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but the third was all Carterville at the beginning, as the Lions raced to a 12-2 lead before the Indians began chipping away. Du Quoin got as close as 23-21, but couldn't get in front.

"One of the things we talked to the girls about is that mental aspect, we've talked about it all season," said Dill. "I feel like we've grown every game. Something is improving every game. I think the biggest thing for us is letting go of a mistake when it's made. When we let go of a mistake and we get that next ball down, we're fine. If we're thinking about the play before, that's when those points kind of pile up."

"Hand it to Carterville's hitters, they had some strong hitters. They had a good block on the right side. I thought their setter did a nice job of attacking the ball when she was in the front row. They had some things they were doing really well."

Kenzie Jackson's 8 kills led Du Quoin offensively, Jordyn Bullar added 7, Alaina Caldwell and Rylea McDonald each had 5, Taylor Gates 4. Jackson, Bullar and Kate Smith shared the team lead in digs with 6, McDonald added 5. Jackson had 3 block assists, Caldwell finished with 14 assists, and Afton Robinson totaled 6 service aces.

Du Quoin (4-14, 0-6) has their next match on Tuesday at Pinckneyville against the conference-leading Lady Panthers.