LOCAL TEAMS WIN OPENERS IN NOTRE DAME SOCCERFEST

Notre Dame, Cape Central and Jackson all advanced in winner's bracket play as the Notre Dame Soccerfest opened Thursday at Notre Dame High School.

Notre Dame breezed to a 10-0 victory over Hillsboro; Jackson edged Sikeston 3-2; Cape Central slipped past Poplar Bluff 2-1; and Carbondale (Ill.) demolished Farmington 11-0 by halftime.

In today's winner's bracket action, Cape Central faces Carbondale at 3:30 p.m. and Jackson and Notre Dame tangle at 5. Farmington and Bluff meet in consolation play as does Sikeston and Hillsboro.

Playing its season opener, Notre Dame saw its offense quickly find high gear. Chris Dirnberger netted three goals, Scott Wittenborn tallied two and single goals were notched by Bryan Glosemeyer, Oliver Sanders, Nick Kapfer, Cory Elfrink and Timmy Wencewicz. Sanders added four assists and Elfrink had two.

Cape Central (2-0) saw Poplar Bluff grab a 1-0 lead but tied the contest 28 minutes into the first half on an unassisted goal by Mick Metzger. Jon Mark Thompson scored the lone second-half goal, netting a pass from Chris Cole at the 61-minute mark.

SOFTBALL

Notre Dame 11, St. Vincent 8, 8 innings

PERRYVILLE -- Winning pitcher Ramona Blankenship helped her own cause with a three-run homer as Notre Dame defeated St. Vincent in eight innings.

Blankenship's home run capped a five-run eighth inning after the teams completed seven innings tied 6-6. Tracie Kluesner added two hits and also had a squeeze bunt to score the first run in the eighth. Notre Dame had just six hits but were issued 11 walks.

Blankenship went the distance, allowing 12 hits, walking two and striking out five.

Nicole Hadler, Caitlin Hoeh, Jessica Kirn and Monica White all had two hits for St. Vincent (1-3). Hadler's hits were a home run and triple and Kindle Ernst added a home run.

Kirn suffered the loss.

Kelly 7, Cape Central 1

Kelly improved to 3-1 by rolling past Cape Central.

Bridgett Riley pitched four shutout innings for the win. Megan Beggs and Nicole Kern each had two hits for Kelly.

Jackson 4, Poplar Bluff 0

POPLAR BLUFF -- Jackson played errorless defense as Beth Becker hurled a shutout at Poplar Bluff.

Becker struck out seven, allowed seven hits but did not yield a walk. Catcher Amanda Bollinger helped Becker by throwing out two baserunners.

Cherish Tillman had two of Jackson's six hits, including a triple.

Jackson (5-4) scored the only run it needed in the fourth but added three insurance runs in the seventh.

Hillsboro 6, Perryville 5, 13 innings

PERRYVILLE -- Hillsboro won a marathon Jefferson County Conference game Thursday as it nipped Perryville in 13 innings.

Megan Narrow took the loss despite pitching nine innings of two-hit relief. She relieved starter Amanda Schumer in the fifth inning with Hillsboro ahead 5-0. Perryville (1-3) tied the game with two runs in the fifth and three in the sixth. The two teams then settled into six scoreless innings.

The Lady Pirates had 12 hits, led by Samantha Rehkop with three hits and two RBIs. Amanda Nuyt added two hits and two RBIs and Amanda Schumer also had a pair of hits.

VOLLEYBALL

Woodland Tournament

MARBLE HILL -- Top-seeded Woodland opened its season by knocking off fourth-seeded Meadow Heights 15-10, 15-9 in the semifinals of its own tournament.

"I'm pleased with the win," said Woodland coach Emily Johnson. "This is a good way to start off the season."

Sixth-seeded Notre Dame (1-1) notched its first victory of the year by downing Greenville, the seventh and last seed, 15-0, 15-8 in a consolation semifinal.

The tourney will conclude tonight. Notre Dame plays Zalma at 6 for the consolation title, Meadow Heights faces Bell City at 7:30 for third place and Woodland and Leopold square off at 9 for the championship.

Ste. Genevieve 15-15

Perryville 2-7

PERRYVILLE -- Perryville opened its 1999 schedule with a loss at the hands of Ste. Genevieve.

Natalie Bohnert slammed five kills for Perryville while Katie Kutz had four kills, four digs and four service points.

Marquand 7-6

Valley of Caledonia 15-15

MARQUAND -- Marquand dropped to 0-2 on the season after being swept at home.

Marquand's JV also fell in two sets 7-15, 9-15.

GIRLS TENNIS

Jackson 8, Farmington 1

JACKSON -- Jackson's varsity improved to 4-0 on the season with an impressive win over Farmington.

The JV improved to 3-0 with a 4-0 victory.

Singles

1. Kim Anderson (J) def. Jennifer Wisdom 8-0

2. Nicole Poythress (J) def. Emily Barks 8-0

3. Heather Isbell (F) def. Brooke Stephens 8-4

4. Annie Lefebvre (J) def. Ashlee Denman 8-3

5. Sarah Propst (J) def. Mellissa Lawson 8-1

6. Maggie Martin (J) def. Stephanie Coleman 9-7

Doubles

1. Anderson-Poythress (J) def. Wisdom-Isbell 8-1

2. Stephens-Lefebvre (J) def. Barks-Denman 8-1

3. Propst-Martin (J) def. Tessa Pacilli-Lawson 8-4

JV winners: Carly Vogelsang, Katie Domain, Jessica Nelson, Keri Miinch, Mandy Bulbaugh