Advance slips past Sikeston in two

Josh Mills/SEMO News Service Photo Advance's Liza Gray makes a play during the Lady Hornets' win over Sikeston Tuesday.

"We had very little offense," said Sikeston head coach Steve Beydler. "Looking at the stats, we had too many long rallies and they didn't end in our favor."

In the first set, the Lady Bulldogs trailed 18-10 before bouncing back to make a game out of it. The 8-point deficit became a 19-19 tie, then a 20-20 tie before Advance tore off a few points and eventually took the set 25-21.

Sikeston started out on fire in the second set, jumping out 5-0 before the Lady Hornets recorded their first point. The Lady Bulldogs led by as many as six in the set before Advance staged a comeback.

The last lead that the home team held was 12-11 and despite pulling within one point, 17-18, they couldn't convert on their service opportunities and fell 21-25 in the second set.

At least three times the Lady Bulldogs killed offensive scoring opportunities by committing errors on their serves in the second set Beydler said.

"We had three different people serve in the second set and not get the serve in," said Beydler. "And, we were only down by three or four points."

"I told the girls after the game that we played reactionary, instead of trying to make things happen," he added.

Defensive stats outweighed the offensive ones on Tuesday night. Vonterria Applewhite led the way with 11 digs, Quesha Howard had nine as did Tyanne Townsend and Monica Carter recorded eight.

Asia Liggins led the way in kills with five while Howard recorded four and both Madeline Davis and Townsend finished with three.

Advance head coach Dana Below said that her squad didn't play their best volleyball on Tuesday evening, but said that they were happy to take the win.

"We didn't play our best game tonight," said Below. "I think a lot of it was the gym. It's a very unusual gym here.

"But, we're gearing up for districts on Monday. We're just trying to get the girls to click before districts."

The Lady Bulldogs will host New Madrid County Central on Thursday evening giving recognition to their seniors at the contest. Action begins at 6 p.m. at the Sikeston Field House.