Leopold Wins Class 1 District 3 Volleyball at Advance

Night 1 - Monday, Oct. 26

Leopold, who is seeded first, has a BYE and will not play until the first game scheduled for Tuesday night at 5:30 pm. Their opponent will be the winner of the Meadow Heights/Saxony Lutheran game from Monday night.

*5:30 p.m. - Meadow Heights (4) v. Saxony Lutheran (5)

There was a battle for the very first point of the first set between the fourth seeded and fifth seeded teams and that set the stage for the rest of the match, a battle till the end. Saxony Lutheran, who seemed better organized tonight, ran their plays smooth and executed them well. The first set started off evenly, with game tied at 7 points each. The Lady Crusaders took a small lead by three points, but Meadow Heights ran for three points and tied things back at 10. Saxony Lutheran did have some boundary issues, which allowed Meadow Heights to creep ahead 12-10. Meadow Heights #4, Gina Cureton had some quick, fast moves to aid the Lady Panthers tonight. Also, Lady Panther #1, Mica Morse did a good job covering the back row. Meadow Heights took a stronger lead, pulling ahead of Saxony Lutheran to lead 19-15. Saxony Lutheran's #2, Holly Schermann brought some wicked serves to the game, which helped Saxony Lutheran tie the game at 20 points. Meadow Heights took the lead on an out of bounds ball and cruised on to win the first set 25/20.

Saxony Lutherans Hailey Roth blocked very well tonight. Meadow Heights held a comfortable lead threw the early part of the second set. Saxony Lutheran played well though and brought their score to within one of Meadow Heights, 18-17. Back and forth action continued, with good plays by Meadow Heights Erin Bollman which helped the Lady Panthers keep pace and the game tied at point number 23. Erin shows good physical ability, can stand the ball up clean from an awkward position. Saxony Lutheran scored the final two points to win the second set, 25/23.

The tie breaker set between Saxony Lutheran and Meadow Heights found Saxony Lutheran taking an early lead off of sloppy play by Meadow Heights. The Lady Panthers had boundary trouble again, side line and back line. Saxony Lutheran's #15, Cassie Simpher did an excellent job of blocking. Saxony Lutheran builds an even bigger lead on the Lady Panthers 14-7, when a time out is called. Meadow Heights took the court better organized, but was still not able to keep pace with the Lady Crusaders, who won the match and up set Meadow Heights, 25/14. The Lady Crusaders will not play first seeded Leopold at 5:30, Tuesday night.

*6:45 p.m. - Zalma (2) vs. Marquand-Zion (7)

Zalma took off strong against Marquand and won easily in two sets.

Lest Newberry, always a strong force at the net, did a fine job with her kills.

Marquand's back row had trouble receiving the ball from Zalma. The end score of the first set was 25/8.

The second set found Marquand taking an early 4-0 lead due of Zalma being unorganized. Zalma straighten out their plays and brought the score to a tie with the help of serves by Lorie VanGennip. Zalma took a lead and sped forward, closing out the second set 25/7. Zalma now advances to play the winner of the Advance/Oak Ridge game.

*8:00 p.m. - Advance (3) vs. Oak Ridge (6)

Oak Ridge started the action on a kill by Emily Ruch. She also had her blocks warmed up tonight. Advance's Sara Mace has one of the sweetest serves in southeast Missouri. Tonight was the best I've seen Advance's Taylor Eggimann play also. Advance jumped to an early lead over the Lady Bluejays and went on to win the first set 25/12.

Oak Ridge took the early lead in the second set 6/2, due to Advance having trouble knocking the ball out of bounds. #25 with Oak Ridge, Stacey Roberts, still impresses me with how well organized she is on the court. Keeps her head in the game and moves quickly. Haley Gifford with Advance had some good plays at the net tonight. Advance worked their way back and took the lead from Oak Ridge, going on to close the set 25/16. I've noticed from the program that Oak Ridge has only 2 seniors, Lauren Meyer and Emily Ruch. Both have been stand out players all threw high school. Best of luck to both of you. Advance now plays Zalma in the second game of tomorrow nights action at 6:45. The winners of those two game will then play for the district championship at 8 pm.

Day Two October 27th, 2009

Game One

Leopold vs. Saxony Lutheran

First seed Leopold took on fifth seeded Saxony Lutheran in the first game of the night. The early part of the first set between the two teams was back and forth action with boundary trouble by both teams. Holly Schermann with Saxony Lutheran had some nice block action early in the set and Cassie Simpher added some blocks herself. Abby Landewee used smart ball placement tonight to help her team start a lead on the Lady Crusaders with the score at 8 Leopold, 5 Saxony Lutheran. Both teams at the beginning of the first set seemed unorganized, serves in the net, balls out of bounds. I hate to see points given to an opponent on serves being out of bounds. Saxony Lutheran worked at taking Leopold's lead and brought the score to within one point of Leopold, 11 to 10. About this time, Leopold straightened out their plays and made more fluid moves, add to that a couple of sweet kills by Mackenzie Beel and Mallory James and you have the first set closing out Leopold over Saxony Lutheran 25 to 15.

The second set took off fast in Leopold's favor. Mackenzie Beel served for I believe 10 points straight. Saxony Lutheran did not score till Mackenzie served in the net, making the score 10 to 1. (Correct me if I'm wrong here.) The Leopold front line was full of sharp action in this set. Kirsten Thele, Shelby Vandeven, Abby Landewee, and Mackenzie Beel all smacked down strong points in the Saxony Lutheran side of the court. Leopold won this set with a score of 25 to Saxony Lutherans 7 points.

Game Two

Zalma vs. Advance

First I'd like to mention that 7th grader Hannah Clark from Advance, did a wonderful job with the national anthem tonight and last night.

Advance started off by serving into the net. Zalma had some out of bounds issues at first. The game was tied at the 4 point mark. Advance took a small lead 9 points to 6, then built a bigger lead over the Lady Bulldogs 14-9, mainly on Zalma having difficulty at the net. Alisha Hendrix and Lesta Newberry for Zalma did get in some smart blocks and Lesta's serves were wicked in the first set. Taylor Eggimann and Liza Gray were both key players at the net for Advance tonight. Zalma had trouble controlling the ball. The first set ended in Advances favor 25-16.

The second set between Advance and Zalma was a fight to the finish. Zalma took the court better organized, and Advance had trouble with missed serves. The game started tied at 3, then 4, then Advance would take the lead, then Zalma would take the lead, it was "sit on the edge of the bleachers" time. Game tied at 8, Zalma took a lead off of a nice serve by Trista Clark, then increased their lead by 3 points. Advance fought back, using good play by Hannah Barr at the net. Game was tied at 15 points. Advance's Taylor Eggimann and Liza Gray had the company of Haley Gifford at the net in this set also. Game still tied at points 18 and 19. Zalma takes a lead on a touch that fell out of bounds by Advance, then adds another point on a flub at the net by Advance. Zalma has a three point lead on the Lady Hornets when Advance's Liza Gray made a kill that started Advance's fight back. Tied at point 23, we had a "gym burner" going on. Zalma had a bad play by the back row, but then scored again, bringing the game to stand tied at 24 points. Advance made to two final points to bring the second set to close at 26 Advance 24 Zalma.

Zalma dose not have a senior on the team. They have had a remarkable season for such a young team. I'm counting down the days till next volleyball season. We as fans and the whole Zalma community have a lot to look forward too! Correct me if I'm wrong semocrat08, I believe Zalma ends it's season 20-10.

Championship Game

Leopold vs. Advance

Advance got the first two points of the first set against Leopold, one on an out of bounds serve by Leopold, one off a kill by Liza Gray. Then Leopold answered with back to back smack down action by Kirsten Thele. Nicole Cantrell slid a point in for Advance, which Leopold answered with another point of their own. Game was tied at the 3 point level. Play didn't last long after this point, Leopold took off strong against the Lady Hornets and never looked back. Closing out the first set 25-11.

The Lady Wildcats took off strong in the second set and stayed strong. They built a quick lead over the Lady Hornets, first by two points and then by ten points. Leopold won the last set 25-15, taking the district 3 championship.

The all-district team was announced tonight after the games.

2nd Team

Taylor Eggimann, Advance

Tori VanGennip, Zalma

Mackenzie Beel, Leopold

Jillian Mills, Meadow Heights

Sara Mace, Advance

Liza Gray, Advance

1st Team

Kirsten Thele, Leopold

Abby Landewee, Leopold

Lauren Seiler, Leopold

Holly Schermann, Saxony Lutheran

Lesta Newberry, Zalma

Hannah Barr, Advance

Congratulations to everyone.

Leopold now advances to the sectional play which will be held at Bell City on October 31st.