On a night in which Nixa shook off past failures against Ozark, it was also refreshing for the Lady Eagles to look back on the trail that has led to Sydney Golden establishing herself among the premier setters in the program's history.

Nixa halted its losing streak to Ozark at eight matches by netting a 25-14, 26-24 victory Tuesday.

The Lady Tigers had dominated the teams' series over the past three years. If the Lady Eagles needed a reminder they hadn't knocked off Ozark since 2015, they received a heads-up on the school's athletics Facebook page Tuesday morning.

"I saw that on-line and thought, 'Wow, has it actually been that long,'" libero Lexie Gregory said. 'I was definitely thinking we wanted to step up to that challenge and beat them. It gave me an extra kick to come out and do the things we need to do."

"Seeing that motivated us," Golden added. "We came out with a lot of energy."

Nixa breezed to its opening-set win, before holding on for a tight victory in the second set.

"There were a lot of ups and downs," said hitter Jordan Collard, who had a pair of blocks. "We could have controlled the match better. We struggled in the second set to keep the lead, tempo and momentum. But we found a way to make it work."

"At times we served well, at times we serve-received and passed well and at times we had some really good swings. But I don't think all those things flowed as well as they could," coach Annie Zimmerman said. "We weren't doing multiple things well at the same time. We had parts of our game that were good, but other parts that we let slip. We've got to get more consistent."

Nixa's Golden-Golmen combo worked in the end, as Golden set Taylor Golmen up for a pair of late kills in the second set. Golden was her usual consistently exceptional self, while dishing out 17 assists. 

A year ago in the pre-season, Golden was tabbed Nixa's setter, after a fight for the job with Kenzie Hines. Golden went on to collect 617 assists as a freshman, while Hines started as a hitter and had 182 kills.

"Every once in a while I guess I get it right," Zimmerman said. "That's the way we try to set it up in our gym. We want our kids to compete for positions every single day. That's the only way you get your kids playing at a top level. It's great to always have somebody pushing for a spot. You never know, an injury or something crazy could happen and we need somebody else to fill that role."

If Hines had been named Nixa's setter, Golden figures she would still be waiting to make her varsity debut.

For the full recap, click here.

For the O-Zone recap and photos, click here.

Varsity final: Nixa – 2, Ozark – 0 (25-14, 26-24)

Stat Leaders
Kills: Nixa (Lauren Weber – 6), Ozark (Cecilia Westfall – 7)
Assists: Nixa (Sydney Golden – 17), Ozark (Ellie Schrader – 18)
Digs: Nixa (Lexie Gregory – 10), Ozark (Meredith Avery – 10)

JV final: Nixa – 2, Ozark – 0 (25-16, 25-15)
Frosh final: Nixa – 2, Ozark – 1 (23-25, 25-16, 27-25)