Take a hotly-contested 3A district volleyball match and run the numbers. The differences between two evenly-matched teams are very narrow. 

There were 183 single points scored in the four set Mineola Lady Jacket home win against the Quitman Lady Bulldogs last Tuesday. Mineola offered up two more aces and three more blocks, but they also committed ten more errors and miss-hits. Quitman actually scored five more offensive points throughout the match, but gifted two more service errors than the home side. 

With a match so closely competed, the contest came back to how each side was able to string together those critical points at just the right time.  

The Lady Jackets jetted out to a quick lead in the first set behind four kills from Mahayla McMahon. Solid work by Quitman’s Kallie Hoover and Allie Berry tied the set at 14. It remained nip-and-tuck until Lady Jacket Kali Chrietzberg slammed a kill home from the left wing. Mineola took the first set 25-22.

The roles were reversed in the second set. The Lady Bulldogs forged ahead and forced a Mineola time-out when Annabelle Popek scored with a booming block. The Lady Jackets eventually tied the game at 22, but two Lady Bulldog kills and an ace secured the second set.

Mineola took the momentum early in the third set and rode it through to the finish. A brutal kill shot by McMahon, which made the score 18-15 Mineola, propelled Mineola to the 25-17 third set win. 

The fourth set featured ten ties and some of the best scrambling volleyball of the season. In the end game however, it was Mineola which put the points together. Three late kills by McMahon and two consecutive blocks by Jayla and Kyra Jackson recorded the match win for the home side.

On Friday Mineola defeated Winona in three games while Quitman lost in three games to Harmony.