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Bloomfield eliminates Malden before falling to Arcadia Valley in Class 2 volleyball playoffs
MALDEN — The Arcadia Valley volleyball team set some lofty goals in the preseason. The Bloomfield Wildcats weren’t sure what to expect in the upcoming season.
The Tigers achieved one of their goals Saturday night, beating Bloomfield 25-15, 25-14 in a Class 2 quarterfinal at Malden High School.
“State is always a goal,” Arcadia Valley coach Tara Lamb said. “I don’t care what team it is. That’s your ultimate goal. These girls set several goals at the beginning (of the season), and they have reached and checked off every single one along the way. To have a team that’s that goal-oriented and that ambitious, it says a lot about the win tonight.”
Bloomfield coach Haley Silman was proud of how her team finished the year.
“We lost four senior starters (from a team that went 29-8-1 last season). We weren’t expected to win our district, and we came out and we beat Saxony (Lutheran to win the district tournament),” Silman said. “That was the proudest moment ever. We played like I knew we could play all year. We struggled all year long, and they came out ready to fight. I’m just so proud of them. I told them, ‘We made the elite eight. There’s a lot of schools that would be dying to be on the floor today.’ ”
The Wildcats advanced to the quarterfinals with a 25-17, 24-26, 25-19 win over Malden. Arcadia Valley defeated Maplewood-Richmond Heights 25-16, 25-17 in the other sectional.
The lead changed hands three times and the score was tied on four occasions in the first set. The Wildcats led by as many as two points before Arcadia Valley gained a foothold with a 5-0 run to take a 10-6 lead. Madilyn Dement’s kill tied the score for the final time (6-6), and Josie Landrum’s kill gave the Tigers a 7-6 advantage, a lead they never relinquished.
Bloomfield cut its deficit to one three times before the Tigers closed the set with a 9-0 run.
Silman was impressed with the Tigers’ front line.
“They’ve got a great front line every rotation, and those girls can hit the ball,” Silman said. “We just kind of let them. We just didn’t have our hitting game on. … It is hard to get your offense going when they’re hitting balls down our throats basically.”
The Tigers shot out to a 12-3 lead in the second set, and Bloomfield never seriously challenged them.
Arcadia Valley outhit the Wildcats 30-15.
Dement paced the Tigers with nine kills, Gracee Smith had six and Kristen Day had five.
Bailey Below paced the Wildcats with seven kills and two blocks. She added eight digs and five assists.
Karsynn Phillips led Bloomfield with 14 digs and two service aces. Melanie Phillips added four kills.
The Wildcats finished the season 19-17-1.
Arcadia Valley (30-5-1) will compete in the round-robin semifinals on Friday at the Show-Me Center in Cape Girardeau, Mo., along with Hermann, Liberty (Mountain View) and St. Michael the Archangel.
Bloomfield 2, Malden 1
In the sectional round, the Wildcats overcame a sluggish second set to advance to the quarterfinals for the fourth time in five years.
“I was proud of them,” Silman said. “That third set, they came out and they wanted it. They fought really hard, and they played a lot better than they did in the second set.”
The Wildcats led 1-0 in second set, but Malden scored the next three points and never trailed again. Malden led by as many as four points four times before the Wildcats rallied late to tie the score at 18, 20, 22 and 24. The Green Wave closed the set on a kill by Makenzie Minniefield and a block by Madi Saulsbery.
“I feel like we played our best in the second set,” Malden coach Brittany Crane said. “I feel like we didn’t play safe in the second set, whereas the third I think we played safe a few times and tipped a time too many. Tips don’t work on a Bloomfield defense. They read that. They set the ball up and scored off our tips. We should’ve been hitting the ball a little bit more.”
The lead changed hands four times in the third set before the Wildcats went ahead to stay (8-7) on a kill by Lilly Warrick. Malden stayed close for a while, but the Wildcats used a 5-0 run to extend their lead to 18-11. Malden cut its deficit to 20-17, but the Wildcats closed the match with consecutive kills by Bailey Below.
“It’s really hard to defend when Bloomfield’s hitting because they will cut things short. So you move your defense up for short (balls), and they’ll hit deep. Then you try to move back deep (and they’ll hit short),” Crane said. “Just all night, we were trying to adjust to where they were hitting. Sometimes it paid off, and a few times it didn’t pay off and they got the point.”
The Green Wave started fast in the first set, taking a 7-2 lead. However, Bloomfield rallied to take a 10-9 advantage and didn’t trail again in the set.
The Wildcats scored the set’s final four points. Molly Below’s ace gave them set point, and Melanie Phillips’ kill clinched the set.
Bailey Below paced Bloomfield with 15 kills, five blocks and four service aces. She added 11 assists and 11 digs.
Warrick had a team-high 19 digs. Creylee Huddleston paced the Wildcats with 13 assists.
Eva Hester and Warrick finished with five kills each.
Gracie Thomas led Malden with 13 kills, and Tanner Miller added five. Minniefield had a team-high three service aces.
Malden finished the season 18-7-1.