Lady Jackets Volleyball finishes 7th at Marissa Tournament
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The Chester High School Lady Yellow Jackets Volleyball Team played well last week September 1-4 at the 2009 Marissa Tournament winning three of five games to secure the 7th place spot in the Championship side of the tournament bracket.
CHS played a pair of matches on the first night of the tournament Wednesday September 1. In the first match the Jackets opened with a win over New Athens in only two games, 21-12 and 21-19. In the nightcap the Jackets lost to a very tall and feisty Columbia team in two games, 11-21 and 12-21.
In the first game vs. New Athens Jamie Chambers and Megan Atchison led the team in points served with 10 apiece while Amy Araiza added six. Tiffani Marshall led the team in kills with three big boys and Devon Hecht knocked down five huge blocks for CHS. With the win Chester improved to 1-3 for the year.
Against Columbia Tiffani Marshall and Megan Atchison led the Jackets in points scored with five apiece, followed by Amy Araiza, Jamie Chambers and Shelby Long with four each. Marshall also led in kills with three and blocks with three. Rachel Young paced CHS in digs with four. The loss dropped the Lady Jackets to 1-4 overall for 2009.
Regarding the night's first match against New Athens Coach Jennifer Rheinecker stated that the girls played well especially pertaining to serving. "The girls served well in both matches tonight," said Rheinecker. "Devin Hecht had one of the hardest hits I've seen her hit tonight. She also had several key blocks."
Coach Rheinecker continued, "I am proud of the way the girls battled back to take the lead. I am very proud of the way they won. They had complete control of the New Athens match and fought hard against Columbia. Columbia just outsized us, but the girls never gave up and played a good, hard match."
Thursday, September 3 the Ladies played Trico for the right to stay in the tournament. The event was double elimination and one more loss would have sent the Jackets home for good. The win against Trico, however, kept Chester in the championship bracket and improved the team's overall record 2-4 for the season.
Jamie Chambers had a monster night serving with 14 points served. Add to her expertise 10 points served by Megan Atchison and the Jackets were on their way to a victory. Rachel Young and Jordan Clendenin had four kills apiece while Tiffani Marshall led the squad in blocks with three. Shelby Long had seven digs and Atchison and Chambers chipped in four assists apiece.
"The girls had their ups and downs this evening but they won the first game with little trouble, 21-14. Jamie Chambers got the ball rolling with several awesome serves. Tiffani Marshall and Devon Hecht played well at the net. The back row even brought up some hard hits from Trico that the girls set up and hit," said Coach Rheinecker.
After winning the first game, Chester lost the second game, 11-21. Coach Rheinecker noted that mental mistakes and missed serves doomed CHS. "The girls just didn't get it together. No one was talking and passing was just not good," stated Rheinecker.
In the tie-breaker third game Rheinecker switched the lineup around. Jamie Chambers got things going again and the girls got up and rolling. "Kellie Bert was hitting the ball hard tonight and our passing got better too. Trico did make a comeback but the girls took control and finished the game with a 15-11 win. The loss sent Trico home for good and Chester advanced to Championship play Friday night."
Chester, 2-1 in the tournament, faced Gibault, 3-0, Friday in the first game. Gibault always presents CHS with a hard-fought game and Friday was no exception. The Lady Hawks easily handled the Jackets in two games, 10-21 and 14-21. The loss dropped Chester to 2-5 overall for the season and 2-2 in the tournament.
Jamie Chambers and Tiffani Marshall paced the team in points served with six apiece followed by Megan Marcinkowska who added five. Jordan Clendenin led in kills with four and Marshall led in blocks with four. Shelby Long played with a lot of heart for the second night in-a-row and led the team in digs with six.
In the second game of the night Chester faced Pinckneyville for the 7th place spot in the tournament. The first game was a real tight one with the Lady Jackets winning a two-point game, 22-20. The second game was all Yellow Jackets as Chester won easily, 21-8 to sweep the series and take 7th place out of the 15 teams in the tournament.
Jamie Chambers and Tiffani Marshall led the Jackets offensively for the second game in-a-row with 12 points served apiece. Megan Marcinkowska had a good second game also, adding eight points served.
Devon Hecht paced the team in kills with five and Devon Hecht led the team in blocks with four. Kellie Bert recorded three blocks. Jamie Chambers led in aces with three and Jamie Chambers was at the top of the assist category with five. Once again, Shelby Long led in digs with three.
The win improved Chester to 3-5 overall for the season and secured the 7th lace finish for the Lady Yellow Jackets. CHS went 3-2 in the Marissa Tournament and demonstrated that they will be competitive this season. Chester opens their home schedule this week Tuesday, September 8 at Colbert Gymnasium vs. Ste. Genevieve and Thursday, September 10 at Colbert when Fredericktown comes to CHS. Freshmen will play at 5:30 PM followed by the JV at 6:30 PM and the varsity at 7:30 PM.