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Dexter favored in SCAA VB play, but not without challenges
Having earned the top seed in this week’s Stoddard County Athletic Association Volleyball Tournament with a magnificent season, thus far, Dexter (20-3-1) certainly is expected to claim its first league tournament title since 2021. However, the road to that championship won’t be without challenges, beginning with Wednesday’s match-up against No. 4-seed Woodland (12-13).
“… things can go any way, shape, or form in volleyball sometimes,” second-year Bearcat coach Haylee Orf told Semoball.com following a recent 3-0 win at Poplar Bluff.
The Bearcats, who won the SCAA regular-season title this year for the first time since 2021, earned their 20th victory for just the third time in the past seven seasons by beating No. 8-seed Richland (Essex) 3-0 on Monday to open the SCAA Tournament, which is being played at Woodland.
Also on Monday, the host Cardinals snapped a three-game skid by opening the tournament with a 3-0 win over Bloomfield, which had beaten the Cardinals 3-2 less than two weeks ago.
Earlier this season, Woodland played the Bearcats to a 3-2 Dexter win, which has been the only match for the Bearcats to have gone five sets this autumn.
“Our girls were a little (surprised) by how well Woodland came out,” Orf said of that Sept. 23 match. “They came out strong.”
Orf explained the length of Woodland up front was tough to match up with given that Dexter has just one lengthy hitter/blocker up front, six-foot sophomore Mauriona Menley.
“Woodland had quite a bit of height than we did on the front line,” Orf continued. “We don’t have a ton of height, and we were a little mismatched.
“They kept putting the ball wide and we couldn’t close our blocks well super wide on the outside.”
Woodland’s earlier loss to the Wildcats was too typical for the Cardinals this season. Of their 13 defeats this fall, nine have been in matches in which the Cardinals have won either one or two sets.
In another quarterfinal match today, Bernie (13-7-3) will face Puxico (11-13-1). The Mules have won eight of their past nine matches, one of which was a 3-2 victory over the Indians in Puxico last month.
The two teams will play at 4 p.m.
Also today, two-time defending league tournament champion Advance (16-9-2) will face Bell City (15-9-2) at 7 p.m.
The Hornets topped the Cubs 3-2 last month in Bell City.
The winner of tonight’s two quarterfinals will play Wednesday at 8:30 p.m.
The tourney championship match will be on Friday at 7 p.m. with the third-place match at 4 p.m.