St. Joseph’s Academy quickly regrouped to beat Dunham 3-0 | Higher School of Sports

Her team led by three points in the final set when Caroline Burkhalter broke to serve.

“I wanted to put the ball in play. … If it turned out to be an ace, that would be great,” Burkhalter said. “And that’s what happened.”

Burkhalter’s consistent aces helped St. Joseph’s Academy to a 3-0 victory over Dunham in a non-district volleyball match Wednesday night.

St. Joseph’s fell behind by four points in the first set but battled back to win by scores of 25-18, 25-13 and 25-20, played at SJA.

The annual pink game, promoting breast cancer awareness month, added to the excitement. St. Joseph’s also honored coach Seavee Miller in its final regular-season contest. Miller plans to retire from coaching after the season.

“We played with our hearts tonight. I think it meant a lot to (Miller) that we did that,” Burkhalter said. “And I think that shows we’re ready for the playoffs.”

Burkhalter had 16 assists and four aces for the Division I Redstickers (18-12). Gracie Mann and Haley Sumich each had 10 kills. Zadie Huggins (seven kills, two blocks) and Kat McDonald (17 assists, five digs, four kills) led Division III Dunham (23-9).

At first everything was shaky. The Redstickers then went on a 5-0 run, including an ace from Burkhalter and a kill from Sumich.

The 18-10 deficit was too much for Dunham to overcome. The Tigers cut the lead to six. Kaylee McKinney’s kill capped the first set, 25-18.

“I’m really proud of the way our girls played,” Miller said. “We served very well, and I think Dunham is a good pitching team as well.

“We started fighting early. Then we got together and the communication on set improved and I felt like we did a good job all around.”

The Redstickers turned things around against Dunham in the second set. SJA took a 4-0 lead. Dunham got the score 9-7. An untimely maintenance error quickly halted the Tigers’ momentum.

Ace Sydney Urso was part of SJA’s 11-2 surge. Dunham struggled with his serve-receive as SJA won 25-13.

There were five draws in the third set. McKinney’s kill put SJA ahead 20-17, setting up the final sequence.

“I think the emotion of playing against a group of friends and a volleyball teammate affected our performance and our first contact,” Dunham coach Meaghan Herrington said. “SJA handled it better than we did.”