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Bernie wins four-set battle on Halloween to advance in State Volleyball Tournament
BERNIE, Mo. - The stage was set for the MSHSAA Class 1 volleyball tournament at Bernie High School.
The volleyball centered Halloween night ended with a four set victory for the Mules over Holcomb. They won 3 sets to 1 to continue dancing in the state tournament.
As for Holcomb their season was halted with this defeat. Despite this loss, the Hornets did not go down without a fight.
The electrifying atmosphere and packed Bernie High School gym saw the Hornets sting first with a daggered kill from senior Chloe Hendrix.
The first set saw both teams trading leads all the way into extra points. Holcomb finally pulled out the first set win by only two points, 26-24.
The energy shifted towards the Mules after this, as Bernie would win the following two sets by 14 and 15 points.
The score for set two was 25-11, as Bernie settled into a rhythm. Senior Bailey Henry finished off this set with a kill to tie the match at 1-1.
Bernie would go on to win the third set 25-10, holding Holcomb to their lowest scoring set of the entire season. This was also led by Henry who went up for a defining black to extend their lead to 17-3 in the third set. She later went on to serve an ace and give her team a 22-5 lead. Holcomb began to rally with efforts from senior Zilliah Privett who had a run at the service line to bring the Hornets to 10 points, but ultimately the 17 point deficit was too much to climb.
With this new energy, the Hornets began work to try and extend the match to five sets, while Bernie fought to cut it at four.
The two teams once again traded leads, racing to be the first to 25 points. As Bernie headed into their first match point, leading 24-23, junior Alexa Dillinger picked a dig off of a Hendrix attack. Sophomore Sophia Vessell would set up what would become her 33rd assist of the night, perfectly in place for junior Blair Pleimling to get the final kill of the match.
Pleimling gave Bernie a clase 25-23 set win and kept the Mules dancing through the state tournament.
Henry led Bernie with 25 kills while Pleimling helped out putting down 14 kills. They were helped out by their setters Vessell and Dillinger. Vessell would finish the night with 33 assists while Dillinger had 17.
Vessell also led the game with five aces on 95% serving. Along with leading in assists and aces, Vessell record 21 digs, carrying Bernie’s defensive efforts.
Henry and Dillinger helped protect the net defensively with the most blocks for their team. Dillinger had three while Henry had two.
Despite their loss, Holcomb finished with their best record in two years. They recorded 23 wins and only 11 losses which beat out their season last year where they finished 21-11-2.
Along with this, the Hornets accomplished a three peat as Class 1 District 1 champions and earned a bid to the state tournament three years in a row.
Ava Gurley had the 12 most assists in all of Class 1 this season, capping off with 725 total. Meanwhile her main two targets, Hendrix and Landynn Hodges, sat with the 22nd and 27th most kills this season. Hendrix has recorded 313 kills while Hodges had 286.
Hodges was also top 20 in blocks with 55 this year.
For Bernie, with this win, they will now travel to play the defending state champs at Advance High School. This game will be play at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 2.