By Greg Perkins Joseph City dropped their final two regular season matches last week with a 1-3 home court loss to St. Johns on Tuesday, Nov. 3, followed by a 0-3 road loss at Mogollon on Friday night. Tuesday’s match with St. Johns was competitive despite the loss. St. Johns took the first game 25-20, but the Lady Cats fought back to tie the match with a 25-22 second game win. Game three went to the Redskins 25-19, and the fourth game was close but ended up in the visitor’s favor 26-24. Neleigha Hutchens led the team in kills with 9. Ajana Tagler added 8, Kate Edwards, 7; Kadence Armstrong, 4; Tenea Kissling, 2; and Jessica Jesmer had 2. Jesmer also led in aces served with 4. Kayle James helped with 2, as did Hutchens. Kayle James led the team in assists with 15 and Arami Miller added 13. The regular season finale match in Heber wasn’t quite as close, with the Mustangs winning in three games 18-25, 15-25 and 17-25. Jesmer had a solid match with 6 kills, 1 ace and 13 digs. Edwards added 4 kills, 1 block and 2 digs. Miller had 7 assists. The Wildcats wrapped up the regular season with a record of 9-8. That finish placed them 13th in the final 1A rankings meaning they will face Anthem Prep in the opening round of the State playoffs at 11 a.m. on Friday morning and will be played at Coronado High School. With an upset win they would advance to afternoon rounds, with a loss their season will come to a close.
