Semoball

Bernie advances to Class 1 state final

The Bernie Lady Mules celebrate a point late in their round robin tiebreaker set against Santa Fe Friday afternoon, Nov. 2, 2012, at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo. The Lady Mules won the set 25-17 to advance to the MSHSAA Class 1 state game and will meet Winona at 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3, 2012. (DAILY AMERICAN REPUBLIC/Rob Tate)

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- A winner-take-all set to determine which team plays for the MSHSAA Class 1 state title was needed Friday afternoon at the Show Me Center.

The Bernie Lady Mules and the Santa Fe Lady Chiefs split their round robin match earlier in the day and had to play one 25-point set to advance.

The Lady Mules took care of business.

With just a couple early ties, the Lady Mules moved on with 25-17 win over Santa Fe and into the state title game where they will meet Winona at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Overall on the day, Winona went 3-0, Bernie was 1-1-1, Santa Fe was 1-1-1 and Osceola was 0-3.

Bernie (26-8-2) started the day Friday morning by losing to 25-18, 25-23 to Winona. It then split with Santa Fe 25-23, 24-26 and beat Osceola (26-13) with relative ease, 25-15, 25-13.

At the conclusion of the Osceola match, MSHSAA tiebreaker rules state that if there is a tie for second and third place after the round robin, then the two tied teams competed in a 25-point set. The two teams waited roughly 40 minutes for a court to open up to get the set in.

"Let's play this time," Bernie coach Erin Hoffman said. "That's basically what I told them. I said that we didn't go in with aggressiveness that we normally do the first time we played them. I said 'you've got a second chance. Let's do it'."

The Lady Mules got up 4-1 to start the extra set with the Lady Chiefs but they battled back to a 5-5 tie.

Bernie then got up 11-7 but another short Santa Fe (28-7-2) rally cut that back to two points.

Then at 14-10, the Lady Mules pulled away.

It started with a block by Ellen Snider and then two points later she added a kill. Bernie climbed up to an 18-10 lead before a service error gave Santa Fe possession.

Bernie then reeled off three straight points including another kill by Snider and an ace by Kaitlyn Mayberry for a 21-11 lead.

Katelyn Baker put down an ace to make it 24-15 and then after two points by Santa Fe, the Lady Mules clinched the win as a ball bounced side out for the Lady Chiefs.

"I told them that there shouldn't be any more nerves," Hoffman told her team coming into the day. "Not that your here, just play. Leave everything on the court."

The middle match against the Lady Chiefs was as close as it gets.

Santa Fe held an early lead until a kill by Chelsea Wagner and a net violation tied it up at 13-13 in the first set.

The Lady Chiefs tied the set at 15, 16 and 23 respectively.

At 23-23, the Lady Mules closed it out with a kill by Mayberry and another by Snider.

The second set was just as competitive as the first with neither team building more than a three-point lead at any point.

Bernie tied the game as Baker set down an ace to make it 18-18 late.

Santa Fe however reeled off three straight points as Hoffman called a timeout to regroup.

After the time, Bernie got three straight points itself to tie it up at 21-21.

Santa Fe served up an error, had an attack error and then Baker put down another ace to tie it.

Sante Fe retook the lead on a kill by Callie Giselman but Bernie responded as Jordan Ellenburg put down a kill. Bernie then took the lead on a mis-hit at the net by Lexi Smith but Giselman made up for the mistake with a kill to make it 23-23.

Ellenburg then put down another kill to make it 24-23 but Santa Fe sandwiched two kills by Smith around one by Chelsea Winer to earn the split.

Lowrey led with eight kills while Snider added seven. Mays had nine digs while Lowrey and Baker each had five apiece. Baker served up three aces and had 22 assists.

Smith led the Lady Chiefs with 15 kills. Chelsea Winter had 12 digs.

Against Osceola, Lowrey led with nine kills and Snider had seven. Lowrey also had 10 digs while Mays had nine. Baker had 23 assists.

In the first match setback against Winona (31-7-1), the Lady Mules were led by Lowrey with eight kills. Wagner and Snider added five and four kills respectively. Bernie attacked at just 18 percent on the game.

Mays led with seven digs and Lowrey added four. Snider served up two aces.

Katelyn baker passed off for 18 assists.

For the Lady Wildcats, Rachel Holthaus had 12 kills while Nola McAfee had 11. McAfee also had 13 assists

Adrean Reynolds had 13 digs while Erika Chitwood had five.

"We now know what they do actually playing against them," Hoffman said of Saturday's state final with the Lady Wildcats. "It was the first time these girls thought about play at a state tournament. The first game and they had some jitters and that sort of stuff.

"I think they'll be more comfortable now."

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