Menu
Hornets fight off Bernie, headed back to final four
ADVANCE — The Advance Hornets volleyball team is headed back to its home away from home.
At least that's what Cape Girardeau's Show-Me Center has got to feel like to the Hornets after six trips to the final four in the last seven seasons.
The Hornets punched their tickets back to Cape Girardeau on Saturday afternoon with a hard-fought 28-26, 25-5, 24-26, 25-20 over the Bernie Mules in an all-Stoddard County Class 1 quarterfinal at Advance High School.
“It feels absolutely wonderful,” Advance coach Erin Hoffman said. “This year, (I thought we) were going to have to fight a lot harder to get where they wanted to go. It was going to have to be more of a total team effort. With so many questions like that, it feels really, really good to make it back.”
After losing just three matches last season on the way to the Class 1 state volleyball championship, the Advance Hornets' road back to the state tournament was a little bumpier this season. The Hornets entered the postseason with 11 losses, including seven in October.
Cause for worry? Not quite.
Nine of Advance's 11 losses came against state-ranked competition, including two losses to Class 2 final four team St. Vincent, plus losses to Potosi (Class 3 final four team), Notre Dame (ranked first in Class 3), Valle Catholic (No. 2 in Class 3), Incarnate Word (No. 7 in Class 5), Winona (No. 1 in Class 1 and a potential final four opponent) and two losses to Stoddard County rival Dexter (No. 6 in Class 3).
The tough schedule — rated as the toughest in Class 1 by MaxPreps — all tied in with the Hornets' theme this season of challenge.
“I love living up to the challenge we were given,” said Addi Carlton, the team's lone senior. “We have busted out butts for this and it’s great to be back.”
The Mules (19-10-3) led 23-22 late in the first set before Advance's Emma Eilers tied the set with a kill, then with the score knotted at 26, Cashlynn Sturgeon closed the set with back-to-back kills to close out the set.
The Hornets (22-11-2) dominated the second set, with Sturgeon getting a kill and teaming up with Ava Bowling on a block to make it 10-5, then closing out the set on a 17-0 run with junior setter Kyndall Hitt at the service line.
Advance took a 9-3 lead in the third set on a Carlton block and seemed headed for a sweep, but the Mules fought back and eventually took the set to get back in the match.
“Regardless of the score against Advance, we fought until the end and played every point as if it were our last,” Bernie coach Rachel Vernon said. “We had some long rallies against Advance, and with a strong team like theirs, that is something to be proud of.”
Bernie rode the momentum of that third-set win to a 10-4 lead in the fourth set, but back-to-back kills by Sturgeon sparked a 10-3 run as the Hornets took a 14-13 lead on an Olivia Kennedy kill. Another Carlton kill gave Advance a 16-15 lead it never relinquished, and another Eilers kill closed the set to send the Hornets back to the final four.
“It was just fought back-and-forth in sets three and four,” Hoffman said.
Despite coming up one win short of the final four, Vernon is pleased with her team's season.
“I believe the girls had an incredible season and grew significantly as a team,” Vernon said. “I am so proud of the resilience they demonstrated in each game. They played with a lot of heart and were determined to give their all on the court. … Overall, we had a fantastic season and we will miss the seniors who contributed so much to the team.”
Sturgeon led the Hornets with 16 kills, while Kennedy added 14, Carlton had 12 and Eilers finished with eight. Kennedy also had three solo blocks, while Carlton added a pair and Hitt had 43 assists. Defensively, Advance recorded 100 digs in the match, led by 26 from Brogan Hawkins, 23 from Carlton, 19 from Bowling, 16 by Eilers and 14 by Hitt.
The Hornets open state tournament play at 2 p.m. Friday with a semifinal contest against Santa Fe. The winner of that contest faces either Winona or Jasper at noon on Saturday.
“It’s definitely an amazing feeling, something that I will never get over,” Carlton said of returning to the state tournament.