Republic didn’t play its cleanest match of the season, but it was good enough to earn a sweep on the road at Joplin, 25-12 25-23 25-14.
After controlling the first set, Republic let Joplin stay close in the second. That let-down was a disappointment to coach Allison Davis, who said she has higher expectations for her Lady Tigers.
“Every game is a learning opportunity for us, no matter where we are in the season. Tonight, I’m grateful for the win we got,” she said. “With the potential we have on our side of the court, though… I’m expecting a lot from these girls, and the amount of errors we made on our side of the court was very telling.”
Davis said she’s not sure whether the Lady Tigers lost their focus after the easy first set, but cutting down on unforced errors will be a focus going forward.
“When you beat a team 25-12 and let them come back like that — I don’t know if they lost the focus. I wish I had that answer,” she said. “I just wish they would realize how good they really are and not allow a situation like that to happen.”
One high point for Republic was a milestone for Brooklyn Claxton. She dished out 15 assists, giving her 368 for the season. That’s a new school record for setters in a 6-2 offense, which uses two setters). The old 6-2 record was 363 assists in a season, set by Kayna Daniel in 2006 during the time when matches were best-two-of-three sets.
Rilynn Finley led the team with 11 kills and 11 digs. Finley and Addison Fanning had two blocks apiece. Kaemyn Bekemeier added three service aces.
The Republic JV team won 19-25 25-10 15-12. The Republic freshman team won 25-12 27-25.
Republic’s varsity is 21-7, and 3-0 in the Central Ozark Conference.