Photo by Travis David | Shakamak senior Jama Ewers serves up a shot during the Class 1A regional championship match. Ewers was perfect from the service line which helped her set two new school records.

BY TRAVIS DAVID

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LOOGOOTEE — For the second straight year, the Shakamak volleyball team reached the championship game of the Class 1A regional.

Now the Lady Lakers will be anxiously waiting to see if the old adage of “the third time is the charm” applies to them.

Springs Valley (25-5), ranked No. 11 in the final regular season state rankings, ended the Lakers’ season Saturday night at the Loogootee Regional, 25-22, 25-18, 25-12.

With the loss the Lakers ended another magical season with a record of 19-8.

“It’s been a great season,” Lakers’ coach Emeral Goff said of a second straight regional championship game appearance. “We won 19 matches, finished second in our conference and won another sectional championship. We have some great juniors and sophomores coming back for next year and hopefully they can lead us back here again and see if we can take the next step.”

As for Saturday’s loss, Goff mentioned the Blackhawks had one key advantage.

“We just couldn’t stop No. 7 (Breanna Courter),” the Lady Lakers’ coach said of the powerful middle hitter of Springs Valley. “We tried to double block, triple block … just nothing we could do defensively was able to stop her.”

The Blackhawks raced out to an early 6-1 lead in the opening set. 

But Shakamak responded. 

A slam by Madelyn Kennett capped a 13-6 run, giving the Lakers a 14-12 lead.

The two teams would trade points throughout the remainder of the opening set.

After a tip from Jordyn Boram pulled the Lakers even at 19, a questionable double hit call went in favor of Springs Valley. The next two points were also recorded by the Blackhawks, tipping the momentum back in their favor.

Goff felt like the outcome of the match may have been different if the Lakers could have won the opening set.

“Maybe the momentum would  have shifted a little more for us,” the Lakers’ coach said of the close loss in the first. “But really we got off to slow starts in all three sets giving them early leads. And when you are playing from behind against such a great team, it’s hard to overcome.”

Shakamak never had a lead in the final two sets.

Kennett and Brylee Faulk led the Shakamak offensive attack by putting away six shots apiece, while Boram added three kills.

Ava McCrary served up the only two aces in the loss.

Peyton Gambill (12), Faulk (10), Jaedyn Boram (9) and Kennett (8) combined for 39 digs, while Jama Ewers handed out 11 assists.

Ewers was perfect from the service line, resulting in setting a pair of school records. The senior set a new record for best serving percentage in a single season and broke the career mark as well. For the season Ewers was an astounding 412 of 414 from the line (99.5%) and finished her career with a 98.6%.

The Lakers graduate Ewers as well as Jaedyn and Jordyn Boram.

“Just three great seniors,” Goff said. “It’s hard to lose any seniors, but these three are just a fun group and they are definitely going to be missed. They all put up big numbers on the court, they all work their butts off and did a great job of leading this team and keeping everyone motivated. They were just great captains for our team.”

Thank you to McKinley Seamless Guttering for the sponsorship of this story