Hornets make it back-to-back volleyball district titles with commanding win over Bernie

Advance volleyball players celebrate with Raylee Metcalf as she hoists the first-place plaque Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017 after they defeated Bernie in two sets for the Class 1 District 2 championship in Bernie, Missouri.

Fred Lynch

BERNIE, Mo. -- This is the Advance volleyball team satisfying its hunger.

And on Tuesday night, Bernie was on the menu.

The top-seeded Hornets got off to a fast start, snuffed out any Mules comeback hopes and swept the second-seeded hosts 25-19 and 25-14 in the Class 1 District 2 final at Bernie High School to claim a second consecutive district championship.

Advance has won the last seven meetings between the two familiar foes, dating back to midseason last year and including the 2016 district title game.

"Last year was a huge step winning districts. So now, winning it for a second year is building that confidence," Advance coach Erin Hoffman said. "It made them hungry last year. It just gets them thinking, 'Hey, it was amazing to make it this further step, so what if maybe this year we can make it one more.' It just gives them a drive."

The Advance volleyball team poses for pictures after their win over Bernie in the Class 1 District 2 championship Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017 in Bernie, Missouri.

Fred Lynch

Advance (27-6-1) drove like a Mack truck out of the gates, opening up a 9-0 first-set advantage before the ball even touched the floor on its side of the net. The Hornets gave Bernie (17-15-2) the opening serve by design, and answered it with a kill from Alanis Below.

From there, the top seed was off and running.

"Over the course of the year, we've decided whenever we win the toss we choose receive, because we want to make that first [play]," Hoffman said. "Either we do or we don't -- we set the tone of the game or we don't with that first ball. Luckily, tonight we were able to do that, and we just built on it and built on it and built on it."

The Mules stopped the run at nine points when Ryleigh Foster pushed the ball to the floor and began a four-point swing for Bernie -- its longest of the night. Moments later, three straight kills by Logan Mayberry pulled the hosts within three, 10-7.

As she tends to do, Hoffman didn't micromanage her side, she just let them work through the momentary blip.

"People get a little impatient with me sometimes because I don't call timeout when you're supposed to," Hoffman said. "But I don't do that mainly during season because I need the girls to fight their way out of situations. They need to mentally handle stuff like that, and that's one of the best ways to strengthen that. Tonight, this was a more important game, but I knew they were going to pull it out because they've done it so many times before."

The Hornets did figure things out, and Bernie never got any closer.

An ace by Below put her side up 18-10, and although the Mules held off the final nail for three serves, a kill by Roz Schrader closed out the first set and kept Advance on the front foot.

"I think the difference is you've just got to give them credit -- they're really good," Bernie coach Jason Long said. "They came out and we responded well and could have possibly won that first set if we hadn't made so many errors and mistakes, but there's lots of ifs. Our girls did a good job of fighting back, but I think you just have to give [Advance] a lot of credit for their ability as a team."

Advance didn't start the second set with quite the fire of the first, but still opened up a 7-2 advantage as setter Addie Curtis found Below for a kill. That play became a familiar one as the Hornets controlled the second game.

Advance opened up a seven-point lead, 14-7, on a block by Schrader.

That gap became a 10-point edge on a late-set, four-point swing by the Hornets, who got an ace from Ashtyn Driskill followed by a pair of Curtis-to-Below attacks that made the score 23-13.

A kill by Nyah Wilson clinched the result and another district trophy for Advance.

"It was a very consistent effort out of everybody," Hoffman said. "We've been getting a lot of success out of our middle (hitter Schrader), and when Bernie scouted her very well we spread it out and everybody contributed a bunch. It was a whole team effort."

Advance's Alyssa Miles spikes the ball against Bernie's Taylor Lovelady during the first set of the Class 1 District 2 championship Tuesday, Oct. 17, 2017 in Bernie, Missouri.

Fred Lynch

Below led all players with nine kills for the Hornets, while Alyssa Miles had seven kills and Schrader added six kills and a pair of blocks.

The Mules got six kills apiece from Cymber Arnold and Mayberry. Arnold had a pair of blocks and Taylor Lovelady had three service aces.

"For us it's been a good season," Long said. "We were in a season where we had a lot of girls being thrust into new positions and there was a lot of learning going on. So we had a positive season because the girls came to practice every day, worked hard and were coachable. We improved a bunch from the beginning of the season, we just ran into a better team tonight."

Advance will travel to the District 4 champion Saturday. That district will play both its semifinals and championship tonight, with the winner of Valle Catholic and Bismarck playing the winner of St. Vincent and Oak Ridge for the right to face the Hornets in the sectional round.