Incarnate Word Academy showed it is still the top girls' volleyball team in the state at the Class 4 level. Jackson showed that it is not far behind.

The reigning state champion Red Knights defeated the host Lady Indians 24-19, 26-24, and 25-19 Monday night at the Jackson High School Event Center in a battle between two Missouri high school heavyweights.

While the final score may look deceiving, Jackson (6-1) was right there all game and proved that they belonged. The difference was Incarnate Word’s experience and ability to make big plays in crucial moments.

“We had a returning state champion come to play us tonight with a lot of their starters back from last year and my team playing with basically all new varsity starters,” 20th-year Jackson head coach David Mirly said. “We competed really well with them. They’re just so good and made things so hard on this all night with their serves and hits. With our athleticism, my team just kept finding a way to battle and get back in it and never drop their heads out there.”

The opening set featured some entertaining back-and-forth volleying and excellent digging on each side. Incarnate Word (7-2) flexed its muscle with a 5-0 run midway through to go up 12-5 and built off that advantage for a 24-19 win.

The second set was the most entertaining one of the night. Aside from a 5-0 Incarnate Word run that made it 18-13, both teams were neck-and-neck in the stanza. Backed by SEMO commit Katy St. John and Lauren Dorey, Jackson fought back to knot it up at 24-24 behind some superb digging and aggressiveness at the net. That’s before Incarnate Word’s Ellie Witthaus, a Maryville University commit, nailed a set-clinching kill for the Red Knights to take it 26-24.

The narrative of the third and final set was runs. After Incarnate Word raced to a 17-11 lead, Jackson, charged by its raucous home crowd, rattled off five straight points to make it 17-16. But, despite the home-court advantage, the momentum completely shifted into the Red Knights’ favor as they sprinted to a 6-1 run before Kate McCulloch rocketed the ball between two Jackson players for the match point, igniting Incarnate Word's celebration on its end of the court.

Afterward, Mirly — who has coached many big-time matches in his 20 seasons with the Lady Indians — acknowledged he was impressed in the way his team fought against a stout Incarnate Word team. The Red Knights are an up-and-coming dynasty who has won 67 games since 2022.

No shame in losing to a team of that caliber.

“I told them that I love this team and I love where we're at right now because we're really good and we still have a lot of room for growth,” Mirly said.

St. John led the Lady Indians with five assists to go along with seven kills. Dorey and Kat Elefson were machines offensively, pacing the team with eight kills apiece.

Jackson now falls to 6-1 on the young season — one that has featured a challenging schedule against a handful of quality opponents. And, in most cases, a young and talented program who is battle tested early on is set up much better for when the postseason rolls around.

Jackson fits the mold as one of those teams.

“Our postseason and our district is so tough,” Mirly said. “With Cor Jesu, Nerinx Hall, Ursuline, when we get there, we'll have played 10, 11, 12 games and those teams will have just been as good as everyone in our district. So, they're not going to throw anything new at us. They're going to be tall, they're going to be athletic, they're going to be great servers. We've got to go out there and be able to compete against that, and we're going to get lots of opportunities this season to do that.”

Time will tell where exactly the Lady Indians stack up on the state level, but they left no doubt that they are still near the top of the heap.

“It's going to give us confidence,” Mirly said. “I told them just a few little things that we could have done a lot better and would have gained us two or three points here and there. And if you give us those two or three points and take away two or three points from Incarnate Word, we win in three. We're just three plays away from beating them because we score those three.

“So we're really close, and they know that and they're excited about that. We’re eager to get back into our game tomorrow and then practice Wednesday, Thursday and get a little better.”

Jackson will return to its home court tomorrow evening, Sept. 10 when the squad welcomes Poplar Bluff to town for a conference match at 6 pm. Mirly’s team has won 19 straight against the Lady Mules.

Around Southeast Missouri

Volleyball: The Woodland Cardinals defeated Clearwater on the road in straight sets (25-6, 25-9, 25-14). The Cardinals (3-1) were led by Layla Wiseman, Addy Massa, and Mallary Barks, who each had nine kills. Dezi Braswell dished out 26 assists, and libero Carrie Long led the Cardinals with 12 digs. Woodland hosts SCAA foe Puxico on Tuesday.

Volleyball: Perryville swept Herculaneum (25-15, 25-8, 25-19) at home behind Ellie Gerler's 10 kills, Jewel Riney's 13 digs, and Allyson Burn's 13 assists and four aces. The Pirates host Leopold on Tuesday.

Volleyball: Eagle Ridge improved to 5-0 after defeating Marquand Zion in straight sets (25-15, 25-14, 25-9) at Marquand, behind Ryleigh Vance's nine kills and five aces. The Eagles will travel to Granite City, IL to take on Rivers of Life Christian.

Tennis: Saxony Lutheran swept the tri-meet with wins over Jackson (5-4), Windsor (9-0), and Caruthersville (9-0). The Crusaders were led by Abby Haley, Maggie Hillin, Hannah Pruitt & Katya Rust, who won all of their singles matches. Haley and Hillin also won all three doubles matches. Saxony Lutheran will host Cape Central on Tuesday.

Cross country: Jackson finished second among the boys and fifth among the girls in the Ft. Zumwalt North Twilight Cross-Country Invitational on Sept. 5, in St. Charles, Mo. Five Indians received medals in the boys' race, led by Aidan Niedbalski (14th, 16:46) and Kenyan Kelpe (18th, 16:54). Annika Barks finished ninth (19:55) and Emma Niedbalski finished 25th (20:46) in the girls' race.

Cross Country: Dexter hosted and won the boys' meet on Sept. 7, followed by Notre Dame (2nd) and Cape Central (3rd). The Bearcats had three of the top four finishers, led by Cameron Bell (16:31.30). Aidan Morris led the Bulldogs with a second-place finish (16:32.40). Jason Zhang led the Tigers with a seventh place finish (17:44.90). Notre Dame finished second in the girls meet led by Martina Ressel, who finsihed first in the race with a time of 19:23.10.