Semoball

Advance upsets top-seeded Dexter to win SCAA Volleyball Tournament

The Advance Hornets volleyball team celebrates winning the Stoddard County Athletic Association tournament last Friday at Puxico High School.
Photo courtesy of Melissa Hitt

PUXICO — The third-seeded Advance Hornets took down top-seeded Dexter Friday night in the Stoddard County Conference volleyball tournament defeating the Bearcats in four sets, 25-17, 25-13, 17-25, 25-22 to capture their second consecutive championship in consecutive years at Puxico High School.

“This is crazy,” Advance coach Erin Hoffman said after her team's victory. “It doesn't happen very often, but I’m speechless. It’s been a week full of games where we’ve taken charge and there were times when we didn't. The last time we played Dexter we were up two sets and they came back to beat us, but tonight the girls took charge and closed it out.”

The Hornets set the tempo early, taking a 10-6 lead with Bearcats coach Starla Pulley calling her first timeout of the match. The Hornets stuck with their game plan of playing loose but aggressive, building their lead to 17-10 before another timeout came from Pulley.

Lexi Hoffman pulled the momentum sheet from underneath Dexter every time the Bearcats tried to build some with “dinks,” sending the ball quickly over the net that scored nearly every time as Advance eventually closed out the set.

In the second set, Lexi Hoffman and freshman Emma Eilers supplied superb serving, as Eilers recorded three aces and Hoffman delivered an ace to build the Hornets lead to 6-2. With multiple kills in the set and the continued pressure from heady serving, Advance took a 2-0 lead in the match.

The Bearcats had other ideas in the third set, unwilling to give in as consecutive kills by Kate Nichols scored to give Dexter an early 2-0 advantage. Advance took a 17-16 lead later in the set, but a Nichols kill put the Bearcats back on top as part of a 9-0 run to close the set.

Dexter and Advance exchanged the lead nine times in the fourth set, with both teams tying the game 11 times in what could only be explained as a barnburner of a set. The Hornets gained the lead for good at 23-22 and won the deciding set 25-22.

“We’re continuing to work on certain skills,” Coach Hoffman said. “We still fight with those skills sometimes but I feel as a group they are learning to play more together so as we keep going through the season all we can do is get better and I feel we are with the regular season winding down.”

Advance (19-10) was led by Lexi Hoffman who recorded a game-high 13 kills, with Addi Carlton and Abby Kennedy finishing added seven each. Eilers added three aces in the contest, Lexi Hoffman added three and Carlton two.

Dexter (19-7-2) was led by Carly Long and Kate Nichols with nine kills each, while Rachel Cobb had eight and Long had two aces.

The Hornets closed out the regular season earlier this week at St. Vincent, while Dexter was at Perryville earlier this week and wrap up the regular season at Notre Dame Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

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