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Oran volleyball nabs top seed following SEMO South Conference Tournament pool play
NEW MADRID, Mo. – For the second year in a row, the Oran volleyball team topped the South Division of the SEMO Conference Tournament.
The Eagles went a perfect 8-0 during the five-team pool play at New Madrid County Central High School Tuesday giving them one of the two top seeds to be had.
Notre Dame won the North Division’s top seed with a 7-1 record just 51 miles north of NMCC at the Cape SportsPlex in Cape Girardeau, Mo.
“We played really strong at the beginning of the season winning a division at the SEMO Spike Tournament and we’ve been working on being more consistent,” First-year Oran coach Amy Wibbenmeyer said. “We’ve been off a little bit since then. We’ve been working on some things and I’m glad we were able to come out on top tonight.”
Oran (15-10-1) swept New Madrid County Central (13-16), Scott City (9-17-4), Kennett (17-8-3) and Charleston (2-25-2) to earn the South’s No. 1 position.
The second seed, however, is still up in the air.
Both Kennett and Scott City finished 5-3 in pool play. They split their match 26-27, 27-26 and tied each other based on point differential at +21. They will have to play a third set to 15 to determine the second seed, which is assumed to take place before Thursday’s bracket play, but it was not confirmed.
NMCC finished pool play as the fourth seed with a 2-6-record. Charleston went winless as the fifth seed.
Oran began their night with a somewhat smooth win over NMCC 25-25, 19-9, but found themselves in battles with their remaining three opponents.
They took down Scott City 25-18 in the first set, but need to reach the 27 point cap to continue their undefeated streak with a 27-26 win over the Rams.
“We tried to look for their holes and see where we could place the ball,” Wibbenmeyer said. “[Scott City] is just really scrappy, so we just tried to use their mistakes to our advantage and try to get runs on them to keep them down.”
The No. 1 seed was hanging in the balance when they met Kennett, who also entered their match against Oran with a 4-0 record through two games.
Oran started fast with a 9-1 lead and never looked back. Kennett eventually pulled within five points, but the Eagles never wavered. The two-set sweep over the Indians secured Oran’s No. 1 seed.
“We thought Kennett and New Madrid would give us the biggest tests,” Wibbenmeyer said. “We lost to both of them during the regular season. I knew that we could pick it up and take them on. I told the girls that, ‘If you let up, they will beat you.’ Just like any other team out here tonight. We had to push for every point.”
Oran finished the night with a bit of resistance from the field’s bottom seed. Charleston forced the Eagles into their second point-cap game of the night, even taking a 25-24 lead at one point.
But three-straight points from the Eagles allowed them to survive the scare.
They went on to take down Charleston 25-14 to end the night.
Oran and the rest of their South Division counterparts will now match up with the remaining five North Division schools during Thursday’s 10-team, single-elimination bracket play that will take place at the Cape SportsPlex.
The Eagles will take on the winner of the Sikeston-Charleston match at 6 p.m., at Drury Hall. Wibbenmeyer, a 2012 graduate of Notre Dame High School, knows all too well what the North Division, filled with much bigger schools than the South Division, brings to the table.
“Maybe we’ll face them and overcome them,” Wibbenmeyer said about her alma mater. “I know last year we almost split with them and I hope my girls on Thursday can see that they are good and that they have potential to win.”
A full bracket of Thursday’s SEMO Conference Volleyball Tournament can be seen here: http://www.semoball.com/bracket/2140
POOL PLAY RESULTS
SOUTH DIVISION
Scott City def. Charleston 25-25, 19-12
Oran def. NMCC 25-25, 19-9
Kennett def. Charleston 25-25, 18-10
Scott City def. NMCC 25-27, 17-25
Oran def. Scott City 25-27, 18-26
Kennett def. NMCC 25-25, 18-18
NMCC def. Charleston 25-25, 22-22
Oran def. Kennett 25-25, 18-17
Oran def. Charleston 27-25, 25-14
Kennett splits Scott City 27-26, 26-27
NORTH DIVISION
Notre Dame def. Jackson 26-24, 25-21
Sikeston def. Cape Central 25-18, 25-22
Poplar Bluff def. Sikeston 25-08, 25-22
Notre Dame def. Cape Central 25-21, 25-11
Jackson def. Sikeston 25-14, 25-15
Poplar Bluff def. Cape Central 25-16, 25-18
Notre Dame splits Poplar Bluff 25-27, 25-23
Jackson def. Cape Central 25-06, 25-16
Jackson def. Poplar Bluff 25-13, 25-13
Notre Dame def. Sikeston 25-12, 25-11