Class 2: Scott City-Herman

Good morning from Kansas City, Southeast Missouri!

The Hermann Bearcats just completed their warmup for a 9 a.m. pool-play matchup with Scott City. The Rams are on court now. Their warmup seems to be going well, not too many miss hits thus far. Hermann start a bit slow but had things going pretty well by the time its court time was up. Of course, what a team looks like before the game and how they play don't have to be correlated. I'll keep you updated throughout the day.

There has been quite a bit of talk about Lesterville Bearcats on semoball this week. They don't begin play untill 10 a.m., after Hermann and Scott City on Court 2. I've got my territory marked and set up and will be tracking them as well, so please pass that along to others who couldn't make the trip for today's action.

Time for the anthem.

Scott City-Hermann: Game 1

4-2 Hermann. Lot of tipping for the Bearcats early and it's working.

7-2 Hermann. The Rams have given more freeballs to Hermann to so far in this game than I saw them give all last weekend.

8-5 Hermann. Katie Hogan just had the first real swing and kill for SC, and Stephanie Essner followed it up with a block on the next point.

11-6 Hermann. The Rams were handed their first free ball, but Hogan was stuffed on a quick set.

14-8 Hermann. No. 4 Shelby Winkelmann is killing the Rams with tips and Scott City has called it's first timeout. She's tipped five times for kills by my count and the Rams have yet to get one up.

16-8 Hermann. Two aces in a row for the Bearcats out of the timeout.

19-13 Hermann. Ace for Brooke Simpson got the first reall explosion of emotion for Scott City. The Hermann block is big, people. Very big. They've been catching part of pretty much every hit from Scott City, something the Rams haven't yet been able to do at all really.

23-15 Hermann. The Rams have used their last time out.

25-16 Hermann wins game one. In my opinion, the blocking was the different between these two team in game one. The skill level looks equal in other areas, but Hermann got a hand on almost every tip, attack and even free balls (and I'm not exaggerating) while the Scott City block hasn't been much of a factor yet.

The Rams did start to pick up on the Hermann tips toward the end of game one and got the Bearcats swinging. We'll see if that makes a difference in game two.

Scott City-Hermann: Game 2

2-2 tie. Mikah Simpson with an early kill.

5-4 Hermann. Much better offense from the Rams and Stephanie Essner just stuffed a tip-attempt. Mikah Simpson got a second kill a few points ago. She looks like she's got something figured out. Katie Hogan, who looked as good as anyone in game one, has two earlier errors here, but neither were from here home in the middle.

9-7 Hermann. This is an entertaining game. Mikah Simpson and Essner both picked up kills and the SC block is onto something now. No stuffs yet, but they're making them work and protecting their back row. Hogan got two blocks on one point just a minute ago.

11-9 Hermann. There is high, high-quality volleyball being played now. The Rams just won the longest point of the match.

16-12 Hermann. The Rams can't quite catch up. Winkelmann is still having a lot of success for Hermann. She manages to find the floor on pretty much every attack.

19-17 Hermann. Katie Hogan with a block and a kill since the last update.

22-17 Hermann. Timeout SC. Jordan McFall and Mikah Simpson just combined for one of the more remarkable recoveries you'll see off a partially blocked attack. And the Rams still lost the point. I'll try to put in in perspective in a bit.

25-19 Hermann. There is obviously no guarantee of a rematch just yet between these two teams tomorrow, but the simplest way to put what Scott City will need to do to beat the Bearcats: slow down Shelby Winkelmann.

Again, there are my thoughts only. I'll catch up with the players and coaches at the end of the day to get their thoughts. Scott City played much better in the second game or, perhaps the better way to say it is Scott City found ways to keep Hermann from forcing their hand in the second game. Perhaps that education will pay off. The single biggest difference between the two games that I saw was Scott City's blocking combined with the outside success of Mikah Simpson and Stephanie Essner. The Rams were able to get their hands on some hits and, with Hermann triple-blocking the middle when they got the chance, the outside hitters managed to take some pressure off Katie Hogan and Brooke Simpson in the middle.

Hogan and Brooke Simpson both finished with five kills each, but Brooke Simpson committed four errors and Hogan committed five. Mikah Simpson led the Rams with six kills on just 13 attempts. By comparison, Brooke Simpson had 26 attempts and Hogan 19. As a team the Rams had 18 kills and 14 errors in 78 attempts in the match for a .051 kill percentage.

Interestingly, Essner had the only stuff block for Scott City in the match.

Winkelman had 14 kills on 25 attempts for Hermann with just one error. I'm harping on it, but she was the difference. As a team the Bearcats had 26 kills on 83 attempts with eight errors mixed in for a .217 kill percentage.

A year ago, Scott City and Herman did not meet until the end of the day in pool play. The Rams were 4-0 entering the game in pool play. This year will get to see how well they respond to a disappointing loss. Their next game is scheduled for 11 a.m. against Maryville, which enters the final four with an impressive 36-1 record.

Lesterville and Winona are up next.