ST. HENRY — The St. John’s volleyball team has been looking for that signature Midwest Athletic Conference victory — like beating a perennial power like St. Henry.
After the first two games versus those same Lady Redskins Thursday night, it didn’t look like this would be the one.
Before you knew it, the Lady Blue Jays had rallied for a 17-25, 14-25, 26-24, 25-15, 15-11 thriller before a Robert A. Arnzen Gymnasium crowd.
“First time ever; that is something no one can take from  these  girls,  that  they beat  a  team  with  a  tradition like  St.  Henry.  I  am  very, very happy,” St. John’s coach Kaila  Cook  said.  “We’ve  been looking for that big win over  a  MAC  power;  it’s  been a long time coming and it was as much mental  as  anything.  You  hope this carries forward from here for the rest of our season.”
It almost didn’t happen this night.
The Redskins took away one of the Jays’ major weapons — junior Lindsy Reindel — and held her to only three kills the first two games.
“She had no kills the first game. That’s trouble for us because she’s one of our best hitters,” Cook continued. “You just hope and hope she eventually gets going. We also had no blocks the first two games and that’s the strength of our team. The first two games, they dictated to us and made us do all the moving. St. Henry was a lot better than I thought they’d be but that’s a credit to their program; even when you think they are down, they’re still good.”
Slowly but surely, Reindel and the Jays started their rally. The blocking game got untracked in slowing down the Redskins.
“Slowly, slowly, we started turning it around. We started to do what we know,” she explained. “We got some blocks and that always helps. We began moving the ball around their block and making them move.”
Cook credited the defense most of all in keeping her team in the match and eventually bringing them back.
“I’ve coached here six years and that was the best defense I’ve seen from my teams. The defense was phenomenal, start to finish,” Cook added. “We were digging like crazy and just doing what we had to. It reminded me of when these seniors were unbeaten in the eighth grade: they’d come in calm, cool and relaxed and then go out and play their hearts out. This is the type of win that can set the tone for the rest of the season.”
The Lady Jays (3-0, 1-0 MAC) are at home Saturday morning versus Kenton. JV match starts at 10 a.m.