Scott City, Meadow Heights and Oran

On Monday, the Scott City Rams came to town and they were ready for action. We had a packed house and a very loud house too, the spirit leaders really turned up the volume. The fact that both varsity teams are listed in the state rankings brought a little added excitement to Monday's match. The Leopold JV won their game in a 2 sets to 1 bout. The varsity Rams came on strong and played "power house" ball against Leopold, beating the Wildcats in 2 sets.

In the first set of the evening, the JV Rams jumped out to an early lead, 12 points to 1. The JV Wildcats, who had not taken the court in a week, got their game on track and fought back, bringing the score to 19 Scott City 11 Leopold. Hard as they tried, the JV Wildcats couldn't get caught up to the JV Rams, who won the first set with a score of 25/15. Scott City's JV player with the last name Froman (sorry I didn't get the jersey number or first name) was tough at the net. She was a big part of Scott City's success in the first set.

The second JV set started off on a more even tone. Leopold led by 3 points most of the set. The Lady Wildcats were quicker with their actions and plays. This set ended with the JV Wildcats on top at 25/20.

The JV tie breaker set was a fight to the finish for both teams. Leopold was ahead in the points till Scott City caught up and tied the game at point #7. Scott City pulled away to lead 11/7. Leopold fought back and the game was tied once again at points #16, 17, 18 and then 19. Leopold's freshman Allison Woodfin had the best game I've seen her have. (So far.) A time out was called with the score 22 Leopold and 19 Scott City. Leopold took off hard after the time out, Scott City didn't gain a point and the game ended 25 points Leopold to 19 points Scott City.

The varsity Wildcats meeting with the Lady Rams was.. a good word to use here... grueling. That's a good word in my book to describe the play Monday night, exhausting, very tiring. Scott City plays hard and fast, with few mistakes. (Sorry I didn't get to sing "Happy Birthday" to you, queenofsidelines.)

When the varsity game started, the Lady Rams took off strong and never looked back, over powering the Wildcats 25/ 10 in the first set. The action started off evenly, but Scott City's quick plays and precise moves placed the ball where it was hard for the Lady Wildcats to get under it. Not that the Lady Wildcats didn't try. The Lady Rams have built themselves into a tough to handle team. Their team runs like a well oiled machine. The Scott City players are well trained in their plays, they know where they have to be and what each other is going to do. They handle the ball very well in all aspects of the game, serving, setting, passing, blocking and kills. They had little trouble getting under the balls that was sent to them by Leopold.

The second set was also won by Scott City, 25/19. Both teams blocked very well tonight. Scott City had some wicked serves that Leopold had trouble with. Leopold's Mallory James, who continues to improve as the year progresses, had a good game tonight. I hated to see my beloved Wildcats loose, but there is no shame in loosing when you give it your all. The Lady Wildcats never gave up and that's what I like to see. They stayed "pumped" and never wilted. When you work hard and give it your all, there is no reason to be disappointed in the outcome.

To borrow from Rachel's information on the semoball website, Brooke Simpson led Scott City with 11 kills and eight digs. Mikah Simpson had eight kills and eight digs and Katie Diebold added 10 assists.

Kristen Thele led Leopold with seven kills while Mallory James finished with five. Abby Landewee recorded six kills and five blocks and Lauren Seiler finished with 16 assists.

On Tuesday, the Lady Wildcats traveled to Meadow Heights High School to play a fellow Mississippi Valley conference team, the Lady Panthers. This is the second meeting of the Wildcats and Panthers.

The varsity Wildcats also won both their matches. Leopold took an early lead in the first set following a sweet tip, then a kill and block by Abby Landewee. Mackenzie Beel had a very impressive night, according to the Southeast Missourian Wednesday, she led the team in kills, smacking down 10. Meadow Heights had their blockers in action, Erin Bollmann and Heather Dietiker, making play tight at the net. The final score for the first set was 25/16.

The second set ran tighter with both teams holding the lead for part of the match-up. With Leopold leading 9/8, Meadow Heights tied things up on a serve that dropped on Leopold due to miscommunication in the back row. The Lady Panthers scored once again, to lead at 10 points to Leopold's 9. The first Meadow Heights lead was short live and the game was tied back up at 11 points. Leopold took a short lived lead themselves, 14 points to the Panthers 11, but as the play continued, Meadow Heights tied the game up at point # 16, and once again took the lead 18 points to Leopold's 16, mainly due to Leopold's serves being out of bounds. At this point, Coach Davis called a time out, when they took the court again, the Lady Wildcats seem to have a new direction, they kept the Lady Panthers scoreless for the rest of the match, closing the set out 25/18.

On Thursday, Oran came to Leopold for a best 3 out of 5 match up.

Oran has only a varsity team this year. I remember Oran having a JV last year, the JV Wildcats squeaked by them, winning by 2 points in each match.

The Lady Wildcats won all three matches against Oran.

Oran has a standout player in #5. (Sorry, once again, I don't have a name.) Her blocks against Leopold were strong and solid. Oran's serves were also a strong point. I don't personally recall an Oran serve being served out of bounds.

For Leopold, Kristen Thele once again delivered clean and direct kills.

One highlight of the night came from the Spirit Leader section, when acrobat Lance Seiler jumped 7 standing Spirit Leaders in one jump. All the Spirit Leaders this year seem to be having such a good time each game night. They yell and cheer for the team and keep the crowd entertained in time outs, be it a packed house or a small crowd in attendance. They are a dedicated bunch, driving to away games to cheer for the Lady Wildcats with as much school spirit and showmanship and as they have at the home games. Keep up the good work boys.

Next week brings 2 home games and a road trip. Monday night brings Woodland to Leopold, then Greenville visits on Tuesday night. (I've heard that Greenville has only 1 team this year, so this match will be varsity action only.) Then on Thursday night, Leopold travels to Jackson. See you at the games.