Bernie earns win over Advance

Jerry Jarrell photo Advance's Sara Mace makes a strong effort to return a ball that tipped the net and trickled over during SCAA action Tuesday at Bernie. The Lady Mules prevailed, 25-21, 25-16. [Click to enlarge]

BERNIE -- In a battle of two SCAA teams desperately seeking wins, it was the Bernie Lady Mules that prevailed over the Advance Lady Hornets, 25-21, 25-16, on their home court Tuesday.

Errors by Advance played a big part in the first game, while strong serving by the Lady Mules made the difference in the second and deciding game.

With the game tied at 13-all in the first game, Advance committed three consecutive errors that proceeded a ace by Sami Palmer that allowed Bernie to take a 17-13 advantage and coast home with the four-point win, 25-21.

The score was tied at 7-all early in Game 2 when another Advance error gave Bernie the lead and Krista Armbruster stepped to the service line for a service winner and two quick aces to force Advance coach Dana Below to call a time out with her team trailing, 11-7.

The move did little to slow down Bernie's building momentum, as the Lady Mules reeled off the next three points, with another Armbruster service winner in the middle, for a commanding 14-8 advantage before the Hornets could stop the bleeding on a kill by Taylor Eggimann.

Two kills by Kristin Eaves, a strong service turn by Rachel Palmer and two late service winners by Leslie Kean made sure there was no Advance comeback on this night.

"The varsity did an outstanding job tonight (Tuesday) serving the ball," Bernie coach Jeff Rodgers. "Krista Armbruster had what I think was her finest game of her career with seven kills -- no errors -- and served the ball with some serious authority with four aces. She's a very important player for us, and when she plays well, we are so much better.

"Leslie Kean also did a really nice job with some tough serves," Rodgers added. "We only had three hitting errors tonight, that was the difference in the game and last night (Monday) against Poplar Bluff. Advance has one or two hard hitters and we had to serve well to beat them."

For Advance, the loss was a replay of how the season as gone so far, according to Below.

"Sometimes it's a roller coaster ride for us," Below said of her team's play. "We play really good some games and some times we don't. It seems to come down to serve receive and defense whether or not we pull it out. We didn't get any offense going in the second game.

"We are a little up and down some games," she continued. "Like I said, we get the passes and we get the offense going...sometimes we don't. We're trying to limit our mistakes. That has probably been our biggest goal, not beating ourselves. Just trying to get the ball over net and be aggressive at the same time.

"It's not the lack experience," she added. "I have four varsity girls back from last year, so I don't feel like we're inexperienced. I've got two great seniors that provide a lot of leadership. We're just trying to work out the kinks and trying to get better each year."

Armbruster finished with a team-high seven kills, followed by Eaves with five. Sarah Deason paced the Lady Mules in digs with 11.

In the jayvee contest, Bernie made it a sweep of the night with a 25-14, 25-11 win.

The win improved Bernie's varsity record to 4-8-1 overall and 1-2 in SCAA play. Advance dropped to 5-8 overall all, 1-2 in conference action.

The jayvee Lady Mules now stand at 8-3-1, 1-1, while the younger Lady Hornets support a 5-7-2 season slate.

Bernie will be on the road for its next game at Puxico, while Advance will travel to Oak Ridge. Both games are scheduled for Thursday, with jayvee action starting at 6 p. m., followed by varsity play.