CARTHAGE, Mo. — With her team shorthanded ahead of a conference clash against a close rival, Ava Petticrew knew she had to step up.
It's safe to say she did just that.
A 5-foot-8 senior outside hitter, Petticrew slammed 15 kills to lead Carthage past Joplin 2-0 (25-11, 25-13) on Tuesday night in Central Ozark Conference action inside the Carthage High School gymnasium. Petticrew rose to the occasion on a night the Tigers played without the services of junior outside hitter Alexa Boyle, the team's leader in kills who is nursing an ankle injury.
"Alexa's one of our leaders and she makes us so much better," Petticrew said. "But with her unable to play, I wanted to step up. Gracie (Fagg) and I are both captains, and we knew what we had to do tonight."
Petticrew and Fagg, the team's senior setter who compiled 23 assists, found a rhythm early.
"Ava had a great game tonight and our passing was really good," Carthage coach Tony Allmoslecher said.
Both Petticrew and Allmoslecher noted the Tigers are playing well as a unit, even without a key performer in the lineup.
"Our group has been playing together for a really long time, and we have great chemistry," said Petticrew, who also had three blocks at the net.
"We played like a team should play," Allmoslecher said. "We talk about it all of the time. We have to be a team. We played great team ball tonight."
Carthage senior libero Jillian Brunnert recorded eight digs and senior middle hitter A.C. Crockford contributed six kills.
Senior middle hitter Malia Mack led Joplin with four kills, while junior defensive specialist Jeanie Juneweeranong recorded seven digs and junior setter Mari Katheryn Saunders handed out six assists.
Carthage pulled away early in the first set with Abbey Ling serving, as the hosts quickly led 8-1 as the Eagles struggled with their serve-receive.
With Fagg setting her up again and again, Petticrew hammered home kill after kill, pushing Carthage's lead to 15-2. Moments later, a block and a kill from junior middle hitter Paige Schrader extended Carthage's lead to 18-4.
Mari Katheryn Saunders, Anna Neuendorf and Mack recorded kills for the Eagles, but an ace from Ling and a late kill from Petticrew finished off the opening set.
Joplin stayed close early in the second set, trailing 9-5. But the Tigers then gained the momentum and never gave it up, as the hosts scored 11 of the next 14 points, as kills from Jaxsyn Anderson and Petticrew gave the Tigers a 20-8 advantage.
Petticrew and Schrader then took turns slamming kills at the net to complete the straight-set win.
Joplin fell to 5-9-1 with the loss.
"Credit Carthage," Joplin coach Staci Saunders said. "They came out swinging. I thought Jeanie (Juneweeranong) and Mari Katheryn (Saunders) played their butts off tonight. But overall, we didn't play with confidence tonight. We're not competing well. We need to get out of this funk. It's not going to get an easier for us in this conference."
Carthage hiked its record to 17-3 overall and 2-1 in the COC with the convincing win.
"I'm pretty excited," Petticrew said. "We're having a great year. This is my last year, so I'm pumped to see what we can do the rest of the season."
-Jason Peake, Joplin Globe