Intensity picks up as teams battle for shot at championship

Jerry Jarrell photo Dexter senior Brittany Bedford makes a diving attempt for the dig during semifinal action at the SCAA tournament Thursday night at Richland High School. Bell City defeated Dexter in three games, 16-25, 25-21, 25-13, to advance to tonight's championship game.

ESSEX -- The intensity was kicked up a notch Thursday night as Stoddard County Activities Association (SCAA) volleyball teams battled for a spot in the league's tournament finals at Richland High School.

Top seeded Bell City needed three games to subdue Dexter, 16-25, 25-21, 25-13, in one varsity semifinal, while No. 2 Bloomfield did just enough to send Puxico to the third-place game with a 25-22, 25-20, win.

In the junior varsity bracket, No. 1 Bloomfield and No. 5 Puxico split two tightly contested games before the Lady Wildcats poured it on in Game 3 to advance with a 25-16, 21-25, 25-7, decision, while No. 3 Advance upset No. 2 Bernie, 26-24, 25-23.

Jerry Jarrell photo Puxico's Kristen Pratt makes a save as teammate Hannah Wight watches the play during semifinal action with Bloomfield in the SCAA tournament at Richland High School Thursday night. Bloomfield defeated Puxico, 25-22, 25-20, and will now face Bell City in tonight's varsity championship game.

Tonight's action will start with the jayvee third place game between Puxico and Bernie at 5 p.m., followed by the varsity third place game between Dexter and Puxico at 6 o'clock. Championship games will pit Bloomfield against Advance at 7 p. m. in the junior varsity bracket, while Bell City and Bloomfield will tangle in the night cap for the varsity title.

Varsity

No. 1 Bell City defeats No. 4 Dexter

Bell City got 21 kills from Jasmine Johnson and overcame a slow start to defeat Dexter in three games, 16-25, 25-21, 25-13, and advance to the championship game at the SCAA's annual tournament Thursday at Richland High School.

Johnson was noticeably absent in the early going, but when the match was on the line the sophomore hitter stepped up with eight kills in Game 3 to help deliver the win that propelled the tournament's No. 1 seed to the finals.

"I could tell we hadn't played in two days," Bell City coach Erin Hoffman said, trying to explain her team's slow start. "That first game was pretty rough. I'm just glad to see that we've gotten to a point where we can come back, fight our way back into a game, no matter how bad we are playing and be successful."

No. 4 Dexter, the tournament's defending champion, appeared poised for the upset and a repeat run at the SCAA tournament title after finishing off Game 1 with a 5-1 run.

Game 2 was close from the first point with the largest lead being two points until Bell City strung together three straight for a 20-16 advantage. Dexter was never able to overcome the deficit, but did make it a 1-point game (21-22) on a kill by Abbie Warren and a block by the Dexter senior on Johnson.

Johnson responded with back-to-back kills and the Lady 'Cats were unable to control a hard serve by Alicia Slagely that proved to be the Game 2 winner.

Dexter was never really in Game 3, falling behind 9-3 early after a 7-0 run by the Lady Cubs. The Lady Bearcats chipped away at the Lady Cubs advantage and made it a 4-point game (16-12) before Bell City went on a 9-1 run to close out the match.

"Tonight's performance was bittersweet," Dexter coach Kris Vandeven commented. " I'm proud of our defense for being top notch tonight. I think the girls did a good job handling their (Bell City's) powerful offense.

"We played one of the best sets we have played all season during the first set," she continued. " In the second set it was back and forth pretty much the whole game until the end and we just couldn't hang on. During the third they got us down early and we couldn't ever recover. Bell City is a great team."

No. 2 Bloomfield defeats No. 3 Puxico, 25-22, 25-20

Puxico appeared ready to send the evening's second semifinal game to a deciding Game 3 after breaking open a 11-all match with four straight points for a 15-11 lead, but Bloomfield rallied with some solid play at the net to finish on a 14-5 run and avenge an earlier regular-season loss to the Lady Indians.

"Our girls came out very strong tonight and were able to carry through with their momentum," Bloomfield coach Starla Pulley commented. "I was very proud of the way they played. Puxico came out very strong. They have some really good servers and excellent defense.

"We had amazing defense tonight, which helped us make some amazing sets with some great kills," Pulley continued. " It's great to have such a well rounded team, where they are all great players."

Taylor Parker led the Lady Wildcats with seven kills, followed by Lindsay Hutchison with five. Park also led the team with three blocks, while Erica Wyatt finished with two. Taylor Pulley aided the win with 18 assists, while teammates Che' Holford and Hutchison each were charted with nine digs.

Tonight's championship game between Bell City and Bloomfield will be the first meeting of the year for the two teams, who have not yet played their regular season game.