JCN sweeps league triangular at Horton

The 4th ranked team in class 2A, the Jefferson County North Chargers swept a league triangular at Horton on Tuesday night. 

The first matchup of the night was JCN vs Horton, with Jefferson County North winning in a sweeping fashion. The first two points of set number one went to Horton, but the next 9 belonged to JCN, racing out to a 9-2 advantage. But credit to Horton, they battled back, scoring 8 of the next 11, closing the deficit to 12-10. But JCN showed the championship pedigree the rest of the way, with Carina Johnson leading the way at the service line. JCN took set one 25-16. 

In set number two, after exchanging the first couple of points, JCN jumped out to a 9-5 lead. They pushed that lead to 16-7, and closed it out with a 25-13 set win. 

In game number two, it was JCN taking on the Valley Falls Dragons. It was a back and forth contest early, as the teams were knotted up 7-7 and 14-14. But the back half of the set was dominated by Dragons senior Cali DeLong, as the Dragons stole set one 25-20. 

The second set started similar to the first, back and forth, with the teams tied at 6. However, the script would flip, it was the Chargers imposing their will. JCN would score 10 of the next 11 to push their lead to 16-7. They never looked back, as they won set two 25-13. 

The third set followed the same formula as the first two, back and forth action in the early going, with the two teams deadlocked at 9. But the Chargers again rattled off 12 of the next 15, going up 21-12, and then winning the final set 25-16. 
It was an all-around great night for the Chargers, but Taylor Schrick was unstoppable from the left side of the court. Gwynn Blattner was excellent at the service line, Lindsay Martin and Carina Johnson were good defensively. A true team effort from the 4th ranked team in 2A. 

In the third and final match of the night, it was the Horton Chargers and Valley Falls Dragons. In the first set, it was back and forth all throughout the set. Tied at 18, Horton scored 5 out of the next 7 points, on their way to winning set one 25-21. 

In set two, it was an 8-8 tie before the Dragons raced to a 16-12 lead. The teams traded points the rest of the way, with Horton forcing a 24-23 score, but sophomore Caydren Strickler for the Dragons closed out the set with a kill, 25-23. 

In the third and deciding set, it was a classic, true to form, tight all the way, it was 18-18, but Horton scored 6 of the next 8 to make it 24-20. Valley responded by scoring 5 in a row, to go up 25-24, but Horton scored 4 of the final 5, to win it 28-26. 

JCN sweeps, Horton splits and Valley Falls goes winless, despite playing three sets in each of their matches.