Worthington's Addison Gerber recognized for all-time assist record before Trojans sweep over JCC

Oct. 11—WORTHINGTON — An impressive start-to-finish performance from the Worthington Trojans led to their 3-0 victory over Big South Conference rival Jackson County Central Tuesday night.

The Trojans (11-14, 2-4 Big South) won by scores of 25-15, 25-17, 25-17.

They were balanced and showed great team communication and chemistry, which led to numerous scoring runs in each of the three sets. They didn't give up much momentum throughout the night as they snapped a four-game winning streak for JCC (9-13, 2-4).

"I'm so proud of my team. That's the team that I've been waiting to show up all season," said Trojans head coach Courtney Opdahl. "When things start clicking for us, we're really good. But we can't be happy with that, we have to keep pushing and still finish October strong."

Before the match started, WHS senior setter Addison Gerber was recognized for becoming the Trojans all-time leader in assists. She broke the record last weekend during a tournament at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall.

"It's like not something I ever thought I could do," Gerber said. "I knew that I wanted to get 1,000 But I never thought breaking the record was a possibility until it became true. And so now I'm like, 'Well if I can do this I can do 2,000.'"

"It means a lot to me just having my mom and dad here, my support system, and like even my team and the student section and everyone here it just, it felt like a very honorable moment for me," she said.

Gerber added to her assist record with 19 more on Tuesday to go along with four digs and three aces on 8-of-11 from the service line. She is seen as one of the vocal leaders for the Trojans and that was apparent in Tuesday's win, as team communication was strong all night.

"For her being the setter, (and the) setter being viewed as one of the leaders on the team because you're on the court almost the entire time, especially in our five-one rotation," Opdahl said. "She's really grown, she's more vocal and she just settles the girls down and keeps everyone level-headed."

At the start of the first set, Worthington held a 9-6 lead before a JCC timeout. Jayden Spartz had a strong start with two kills and two service aces. After that, the Huskies tied the set at 11-11. From there, the Trojans took over and never looked back, taking advantage of the numerus serving errors from JCC. They went on a 6-0 run to take a 17-11 lead, which aided them to the first-set win.

The beginning to middle stages of the second set were close, with the Huskies holding slim leads at 7-4 and later 11-8. At that point, Worthington again took over, going on an 8-0 run to storm ahead 16-11. That run was all the Trojans needed to steal the momentum and win the set 25-17 for a 2-0 lead.

After taking that 2-0 lead, the Trojans didn't let their foot off the gas and won the third set 25-17. They kept the momentum going early in the set, jumping out to a 9-3 lead at a JCC timeout. The lead grew to eight points at 15-7. The Huskies did go on a quick 5-0 run to cut the lead to 15-12 and give them a little bit of momentum before Opdahl called the Trojans' first timeout of the night.

Worthington continued to stay focused after the timeout as JCC couldn't get any closer to within three points. On match point, an ace from Abryona Erwin closed it out for Worthington.

"(Opdahl) said a lot of things but the main thing was we couldn't take our foot off the gas," Gerber said. "No matter how much we did, we were like 'they're gonna come out strong and they're gonna come out mad, but we just have to keep pushing through and keep pushing to 25.'"

That final ace was one of three Erwin had on the night and she added four digs and was 12-of-13 serving. Madison Beckmann led the Trojans in kills with 10 and added a block. Saige Scheepstra had seven kills and Spartz and Janessa Hamann each added six.

Spartz also led the team in digs with five, added a block and served 9-for-9. Madeline Petersen served 9-for-11 with two aces and totaled four digs and Grace Barber served 13-of-14 with an ace and also had four digs. Regan Schaefer was 11-for-11 serving.

For JCC, Emma Haren finished with 10 kills, nine digs and two service aces to lead the Huskies in all three categories. She also served 13-for-13. Elese Paplow had 10 set assists and was 7-for-7 serving.

The Trojans have only three games left in the regular season before section playoffs begin. On Thursday they'll be in Edgerton against Southwest Minnesota Christian before returning home next Tuesday Oct. 17 for a game with Mankato East. Their final game is Oct. 19 at New Ulm.

The Huskies will be at Lakeville North for a tournament this weekend before their final game in Jackson Monday, Oct. 16 against Fairmont.

"I think our goal is to finish October with four wins and this just starts that and it just gonna build our confidence and I think they're gonna come to practice more hungry and more focused," Opdahl said.