C1 VB State Final: Advance falls (again) to Winona in straight sets

The Advance High School volleyball team poses after falling to Winona in the MSHSAA Class 1 State Championship on Saturday at the Show Me Center.

Tom Davis ~ Tdavis@semoball.com

In many ways, Saturday’s volleyball match for Advance High School was an all too familiar scene.

The Hornets found themselves competing for the MSHSAA Class 1 State Championship at the Show Me Center for the sixth time in seven seasons, and as well, its opponent, Winona High School, was also a familiar foe, but not in a positive way.

What also was familiar for the Hornet athletes and coaches was that Winona was a formidable opponent. The Wildcats swept the Hornets for the second time this season, and the second time in Cape Girardeau, in handing Advance a 25-15, 25-22, 25-16 loss.

Winona doesn’t make any errors,” veteran Advance coach Erin Hoffman said following the match. “They are very smart and aggressive.”

For the second consecutive match, the Hornets (23-12-2) got off to a slow start. In Friday’s semifinal win against Santa Fe, the Hornets trailed 6-0 in the opening set and Hoffman expressed little concern about it, as she didn’t consider calling a timeout.

“Up until recently,” Hoffman explained, “I’ve been known for not calling timeouts during the regular season because they need to figure out how to get themselves out of (trouble).

“(The players) need to figure out how to work together and help out their teammates. Sometimes, especially at the beginning (of a match), I like to just let them figure things out.”

Doing that against some opposition is OK, but against Winona, a team that beat Advance 2-0 in the Dig For Life Tournament in September, was another.

The Wildcats (34-3-2) scored seven of the opening eight points in the first set, and trailing 9-2, Hoffman had seen enough and called a timeout.

“Winona knows when to be smart and they know when to be aggressive,” Hoffman said, “and they just make very, very few errors.”

The Hornets regrouped and pulled to within 15-12, but throughout the match, Winona responded to every challenge Advance mustered.

The Wildcats tore off on a 6-2 run to take a 21-14 lead and Hoffman called for another break, but her team couldn’t rally.

In the second set, Advance was tied at three before Winona scored eight of the next 10 points for an 11-5 advantage.

The Hornets fought back to force Winona to call a timeout while holding a 20-17 lead, and Hoffman’s kids pulled to within 23-21, but Winona closed the set successfully.

Having spent a lot of energy trying to rally throughout the match, Advance appeared to be spent early in the third set, as the Wildcats took a 7-2 lead.

The Hornets rallied to pull within a 9-6 deficit, but Winona scored five of the next six points and was never really threatened again. The victory was the sixth in Wildcat history and the first in a decade.

Advance got 43 total attacks from its lone senior, Addi Carlton.

“All I know,” Hoffman explained of her confidence in her senior, “at the end of the game, I kept saying ‘Give it to Addi.’ If she would miss a hit or whatever, I told her to just keep swinging.”

Hornet junior Emma Eilers added 30 attacks while sophomore Olivia Kennedy notched 28.

Advance junior setter Kyndall Hitt dished out 17 assists while also tallying 13 digs.

Eilers chipped in 14 digs to lead the Hornets while Ava Bowling (10) and Carlton (nine) also were active defensively.

Carlton had 13 kills in the match to lead her team.