Notre Dame crushes St. Vincent in volleyball rivalry

Members of both teams shake hands after the September 18 game between Notre Dame and St. Vincent.

Photo Courtesy of Carrie Trovillion - Freelance Photographer

The Notre Dame Bulldogs girls volleyball team defeated the St. Vincent Indians in straight sets on Wednesday at Notre Dame Regional High School.

The Bulldogs were all over St. Vincent from the first serve, dominating the Indians by scores of 25-8, 25-16 and 25-16.

Notre Dame jumped out to a 6-0 lead in set number one with each point off the serve of Lyla Martin. St. Vincent used a timeout but unfortunately for the Indians, it did not help as the Bulldogs cruised to the win.

Set two was the same story although the Indians made a run near the end and forced Notre Dame into a timeout to talk things over.

Set number three was when St. Vincent came out strong and built a small lead over the Bulldogs. Notre Dame would regroup quickly and quiet any comeback attempts.

Notre Dame head coach Meredith Brinkmeyer said she was pleased with how consistently her team played.

“It was definitely a great team effort. The energy that they carried pretty consistently throughout all three sets is something that we've kind of really been working on along with finishing in three sets,” Brinkmeyer said. “We played St. Genevieve last night and we really focused on that. So we wanted to carry that into tonight, and I think the girls did an awesome job keeping their focus the entire evening.”

Notre Dame’s offense was led by Courtney Tatum with 17 kills and Claudia Jones with 37 assists. On defense, Lyla Martin led the way with 24 digs.

St. Vincent hosts Jefferson (Festus) on Thursday while Notre Dame heads to Jackson the same day for a much-anticipated match with the Indians in red and black. Brinkmeyer said she and the team are looking forward to the game.

“We just need to carry the momentum from our three games already this week, and especially this win tonight, into tomorrow,” Brinkmeyer said. “We know it's always going to be a fun game. It's always a fun rivalry game and we know we’re going to get a good game out of their teams.”

Around Southeast Missouri

Volleyball: Scott City defeated Bernie in four sets (22-25, 25-11, 25-18, 25-18) behind Lilyan Landis' 19 kills, Layla Estes' 32 digs and Ramsey Spinks' 50 assists. The Rams improve to 5-3-2 and will host Meadow Heights on Thursday.

Volleyball: Oak Ridge defeated Meadow Heights in straight sets (25-22, 25-23, 26-24) behind Reagan Howe's 16 kills, Kenadie Ward's 29 assists, and Kinsley Bogenpohl's 29 digs. Jayleigh Price (24) and Kaelyn Deckerd (20) also contributed more than 20 digs for the Blue Jays.

Softball: Kelly defeated Cape Central 11-3 on the road to improve to 9-5 on the season. Blaire and Avree Riley combined for five hits and four runs scored, and Madyson and Molly Johnson combined to drive in five runs for the Hawks. Alexis Wilson pitched a complete game on the circle, allowing three runs on six hits with two strikeouts. Mya Farrar, Morgan Patrick, and Taraji Riley each hit a double for Cape Central.

Softball: Notre Dame defeated North County 7-5 on the road to improve to 11-4. Kynna Johnson led the Bulldogs at the plate with an RBI double and on the circle with eight strikeouts in five innings of relief.

Tennis: Jackson defeated Charleston 9-0 to improve to 11-2-1 entering the Jackson Varsity Doubles Tournament on Sept. 20. While Jackson is the host, the tournament is being held at Cape Central due to the Jackson courts being resurfaced.