Woodland, Bloomfield advance to C2D2 championship

PUXICO — Puxico steadily go more and more competitive with top-seeded Woodland, but the Cardinals still came away with a three-set sweep.

The Cardinals won 25-9, 25-13, 25-19 to advance to the championship against Bloomfield.

It will be the third meeting between the two this season, with Woodland winning 3-0 both times.

"They are going to have to keep focus and keep their intensity up," Woodland coach Melissa Rinacke said.

After making quick work of Puxico in the first two sets, Woodland led by double digits at just one point in the third at 21-11.

Puxico then rallied to cut the lead to five points before Addie Johnson got her 11th kill of the match.

Both teams traded serves into the net after that to end the match.

"Sometimes they get a little too relaxed and think, ‘Oh, we don’t have to work as hard,’" Rinacke said. "Well, you still have to work as hard from point one to point 25. I’ll give it to Puxico tonight. They were scrapping tonight. They were not letting any balls hit the floor. They were coming after us."

Bloomfield 3, Clearwater 0

Bloomfield 3, Clearwater 0

Facing each other for the first time this season, the second-seeded Wildcats had little trouble with the third-seeded Tigers.

Bloomfield won 25-12, 25-12, 25-17 in the MSHSAA Class 2 District 2 semifinals Monday at Woodland.

After winning the first two sets comfortably, Bloomfield had to work o pull away in the third.

Clearwater kept within three points early and was tied at 11 after middle hitter Jaylin Street got a kill. Her attack to try for the lead landed long, giving the Wildcats the serve and the first of eight straight points.

Melanie Phillips, who led Bloomfield with eight kills, had a kill and won a joust during the run while Karsynn Phillips and Ashton Bell got an ace. Bell also finished with 19 assists and matched Phillips with a team-high 13 digs.

Clearwater cut the lead to 21-16 after Laci Brown hit an ace, but then the Wildcats closed out the game with a 4-1 run.

Puxico 3, Greenville 2

The fifth-seeded Indians had to survive one last push to earn the upset win.

Having brought its JV up to fill the roster, Puxico won 21-25, 26-24, 25-22, 11-25, 15-13 in the MSHSAA Class 2 District 2 quarterfinals Monday at Woodland.

“I’m so proud of them coming together as a team,” Puxico coach Hannah Douglas said, adding that the team was playing with two varsity level athletes. “I really feel like the team we have out here earned it. They earned their spot on the floor, and I’m proud of them.”

Puxico (6-12-4) took a 7-2 lead in the fifth set after Greenville committed five errors, including three attacks that went long. The Indians were ahead 14-7 when the Bears started racking up points.

A Puxico return landed long to give fourth-seeded Greenville (3-13) they serve, and Kirstlyn Thiele was subbed in to take the serve. She immediately smacked an ace after Puxico had a communication breakdown, and the serve landed between two Indians.

Then Mattie Allen hit three straight kills before Thiele hit another ace, cutting the lead to 14-13, and Douglas called a timeout.

“I was trying to get their mental toughness to where it should be,” Douglas said. “Athletically, I know they have the skills to get the job done, but at the time, I feel like we kind of play, I don’t want to say scared, but it’s almost like we are so afraid of making an error that we won’t attack like we should.”

Greenville, which beat Puxico 2-1 on Oct. 9, tried for a tip to tie the game, but it landed in the net to give Puxico the match.

“What is going to win ballgames is getting the ball set up and more swings, and we didn’t do that,” Greenville coach Heather Evans said. “When we’re just pushing it back and forth over the net, that’s not going to get it done. We needed to jump out on them at the beginning and just keep on swinging.”