MISSOURIAN ROUNDUP: Meadow Heights volleyballl reaches Woodland semifinals

Molly Conrad hammered seven kills as the fourth-seeded Meadow Heights Panthers rallied and bounced back after dropping the first set to stave off an upset from a determined fifth-seeded Oak Ridge Blue Jays squad and prevailed (14-25, 25-13, 25-13) in the quarterfinals of the Woodland Invitational Tournament.

Josey Wahlers notched seven kills, nine assists and five digs for Meadow Heights (2-3) while Gracie Cook added seven kills and three aces. Makayla Smith had eight digs to pace the Panthers defensively.

Oak Ridge fell to 3-2 with the tournament-elimination loss.

Meadow Heights will open semifinal action Saturday at 10 a.m. against top-seeded Leopold. The Wildcats (3-0-1) stomped eighth-seeded Greenville 25-8, 25-7 in the first quarterfinal of the day. Further details from that game, however, were not submitted.

The championship match is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday following the third-place game at noon.

Woodland 2, Bell City 0

Addie Johnson recorded nine digs, seven kills and three aces as the second-seeded host Cardinals trounced the seventh-seeded Cubs (25-6, 25-14) in the quarterfinals of the Woodland Invitational Tournament.

Emma Brown contributed four aces, three kills and three digs for Woodland (3-0-1). Maddison Altenthal tallied three blocks and two kills for the Cardinals while Ally Whitener dished out 13 assists.

Bell City lowered its record to 0-2-2 with the loss.

Woodland will face third-seeded Saxony Lutheran at 11 a.m. Saturday in the semifinals. The Crusaders (2-2) swept sixth-seeded Zalma (25-15, 25-14) in Friday's last quarterfinal of the evening. No additional information was provided for that game, however.

Advance 2, Richland 0

The defending Class 1 state champion Hornets opened their season with an easy conference sweep (25-8, 25-12) of the Rebels at home.

Advance (1-0, 1-0 SCAA Conference) is back in action Monday when it hosts SCAA Conference nemesis Bernie.

Richland (0-3, 0-2) will be at Dexter on Monday.

No additional information was provided.

Eagle Ridge goes 1-1

The Eagle Ridge Christian School volleyball team split a conference match at home on Friday.

The Eagles dropped their first game to Maryville Christian School (Maryville, Ill.) 15-25, 23-25. Rachel Margrabe and Gracey Mink both had nine kills for the Eagles in the loss. They bounced back to defeat Heritage Classical Christian Academy (Fenton, Mo.) 25-12, 25-17. Margrabe once again led with 11 kills and 10 digs while Jasmine Brown added three kills and seven digs for the Eagles, who got 19 assists from Sydney Gartman.

Eagle Ridge (6-3) returns to the court on Tuesday when it travels north to St. Louis for a tri-match with host Thomas Jefferson School and Westwood Baptist Academy.

BOYS SOCCER

Notre Dame 4, St. Francis Borgia 3

Evan Bruenderman recorded a hat trick as the Bulldogs edged the Knights in the second game of the Notre Dame Soccerfest.

Colton Neumeyer scored the other goal and also had two assists for Notre Dame (2-0). Brent Vandeven and Caleb Garner each had one assist for the Bulldogs.

St. Francis Borgia dropped to 0-2 with the loss.

Notre Dame concludes tournament action at 11 a.m. Saturday against undefeated Carbondale, Ill., for the championship.

Saxony Lutheran 4, University City 3

Paul Adams scored the game-winning goal for the Crusaders in their second game of the 13th Annual Festus Classic on Wednesday.

Jace Boland, Milo Greenfield and Ty Miller had the other goals for Saxony Lutheran (2-2). Ty Miller and Colin Tarry had one assist apiece for the Crusaders, who went on to down St. Paul Lutheran (Farmington) 8-0 on Thursday to finish the tournament with a 2-1 record for second place. Host Festus went undefeated and won the tournament.

Saxony is back in action on Tuesday when it travels north to Fredericktown.

FALL SOFTBALL

Perryville 4, Union 3

Brooke Huber doubled and had one RBI as the Pirates rebounded from dropping their first game to bounce back and edge the host Wildcats in their second game of the Union Lady Wildcats Invitational Tournament in Union, Mo.

Ann-Marie Simpson came away with the complete-game win in the circle for Perryville (2-2). She allowed two earned runs and recorded 11 strikeouts and three walks.

Kelsie Hardester also went the distance in the circle to suffer the loss for Union (1-2). All four runs were earned and she had six strikeouts and no walks.

Perryville narrowly lost to Seckman 6-5 in its first game of the tournament. No information from that game, however, was made available. The Pirates resume tournament action at 9 a.m. Saturday against Affton with the finals being played immediately afterward at 11 a.m.

WP -- Ann-Marie Simpson. LP -- Kelsie Hardester. 3B -- Reagan Rapert (U). 2B -- Brooke Huber (P). Multiple hits -- Perryville: Huber 2-3, Simpson 2-4.

Kelly 9, DeSoto 5

Kelly Ivy delivered for the Hawks in the circle and at the plate, touching base all four of her times at bat and driving in three runs all while pitching a complete game as the Hawks clinched their first win of the season in the victory over the Dragons during the opening round of pool play at the Notre Dame Softballfest at the Kelso City Park.

All five runs were earned as Ivy had one strikeout and no walks for Kelly (1-1), which came alive during the fourth inning and put up five runs to break the 4-all tie that ultimately clinched the game for the Hawks.

Krystin Keath also went the distance in the circle and had a triple to pace DeSoto (0-2). She allowed two earned runs with four strikeouts and two walks.

Kaitlynn Hannah added a double with two RBIs for the Dragons.

WP -- Kelly Ivy. LP -- Krystin Keath. 3B -- Trista Grobe (D) 2, Kaitlynn Hannah (D), Keath (D). 2B -- Sarah Bone (D), Ivy (K). Multiple hits -- DeSoto: Grobe 2-4, Hannah 2-3, Madison Hayes-Gowen 4-4, Madyson Young 2-3; Kelly: Ivy 4-4, Alaney Moore 2-4, Madison Yount 2-3.

FALL BASEBALL

Oran 10, East Carter 4

Nic Massey and Luke Peterson drove in two runs apiece as the Eagles started strong and made the most out of eight hits to down the host Redbirds in the opening round of the Bank of Grandin Fall Classic in Ellsinore, Mo.

Starting pitcher Connor Kern went one inning on the mound where he walked two batters to get the win for Oran (2-0).

Jordan Douglas also pitched one inning to suffer the loss for East Carter (1-1). He allowed five earned runs on four hits with one strikeout and one walk.

Oran resumes tournament action at 12:30 p.m. Saturday against West County followed by a 5:30 p.m. game against host Van Buren.

WP -- Connor Kern. LP -- Jordan Douglas. Multiple hits -- East Carter: Logan Copeland 2-3, Colby Duckett 2-2, Matt McLean 2-3, Raymond Ochoa 2-3; Oran: Kaden Hargrove 2-2, Ty Johnson 2-4.

Woodland 10, Leopold 0

Lane VanGennip doubled twice among his successful three times at bat as the Cardinals only needed five innings to dispose of the Wildcats at home.

Cecil Abernathy pitched a hitless three innings with seven strikeouts and no walks to obtain the win for Woodland (2-0).

WP -- Cecil Abernathy. LP -- Not Provided. 2B -- Lane VanGennip (W) 2. Multiple hits -- Woodland: Abernathy 2-2, Josy Cook 2-2, VanGennip 3-3.

Bell City 10, Bernie 1

Jeffrey Allen had a big day at the plate, blasting a home run, a double and scoring two runs as the Cubs remained undefeated and notched their third win of the season in the victory over the Mules on the road.

Luke Nichols hurled a whole game to earn the win for Bell City (3-0). He allowed one earned run and recorded a whopping 17 strikeouts and only walked one batter en route to the Cubs' victory.

Jacob Byford and Austin Hunt each doubled and batted in two runs apiece for the Cubs.

Johnny Vaughn lasted 4 1/3 innings on the mound to suffer the loss for Bernie (1-2). He gave up six earned runs on six hits with five strikeouts and two walks.

WP -- Luke Nichols. LP -- Johnny Vaughn. HR -- Jeffrey Allen (BC). 3B -- Landon Zoll (Ber). 2B -- Allen (BC), Jacob Byford (BC), Austin Hunt (BC). Multiple hits -- Bell City: Allen 3-5, Byford 2-4, Jack Duenne 2-4.

-- From staff reports