Advance continues domination of Bell City with another sweep

ADVANCE – It was only 365 days ago that Bell City High School volleyball, led by a talented junior class of athletes, toppled Advance 3-1, knocking off not just a power program throughout Southeast Missouri, but the entire state of Missouri. However, given where the two teams have ventured since that night, it seems a lot longer than one calendar year.

The Hornets swept the Cubs on Monday at Advance High School 25-16, 25-18, 25-16 to remain unbeaten this season through 13 matches.

“Our back row has rocked it,” veteran Advance coach Erin Hoffman said following the win. “Our free ball passing has been perfect.”

Since Bell City beat Advance on Sept. 12 of last year, the Hornets have swept the Cubs in all three matches since, including in the MSHSAA Class 1 District 3 Tournament, as Advance moved on to its fourth consecutive state championship in five seasons.

The Hornets (12-0-2) haven’t lost in 23 matches (a 2-0 loss to Incarnate Word in the 2022 Jackson Invitational), and most recently won the 58-team Dig For Life Tournament in Cape Girardeau.

“(Our free ball passing) has given us a chance to use all of our options for hitting,” Hoffman explained.

To the Cubs’ credit, they were very competitive on Monday, however, not nearly enough to really threaten Advance.

The Hornets opened the night by scoring the first five points in the first set and essentially had Bell City (4-6-1) playing catch-up all night long.

In that opening set, a Hornet service ace put the hosts up 10-3 and forced Bell City coach Lori Meyer to call a timeout.

The pause worked, as the Cubs rallied to pull to within 15-11 on an ace by senior Eliana Bowling, which was later followed by a Cub kill that trimmed the Advance margin to 16-13.

The Cubs scored another point for a 16-14 score, but the Hornets responded by scoring four of the next five points, and following an Advance kill by senior hitter Abby Kennedy that put her team up 20-15, Meyer called a second timeout.

“We made a few changes from last year,” Hoffman said when asked about the play of Kennedy, “and she is playing a different position, and she has really fallen into that position.”

It was a group effort for the Hornets to close out the first set, as freshman Olivia Kennedy served an ace, junior Addi Carlton tapped a hit into the middle of the Cub defense for a point, Abby Kennedy had yet another kill, and sophomore Kyndall Hitt served an ace to reach set point.

The final point was won courtesy of a great dig by Advance sophomore Emma Eilers, followed by a Hornet kill.

As pleased as she is with the play of the back row, Hoffman cited the evolving skills of her blockers up front as being critical to the team’s success, as well.

“Blocking is your first line of defense,” Hoffman said. “Our blocking has been good, which makes our defense good.”

The second set was very competitive, as Bell City battled to a 7-6 score following a long volley of action, and still was within shot at 10-9 Hornets a few possessions later. However, Advance went on a 5-2 run for a 15-11 score, before stretching that to 23-18 and forcing another Bell City timeout.

Senior Lexi Hoffman closed that set with a fierce kill.

The Cubs proved resilient, though, as they took leads of 2-0 and 6-4 in the final set. But with Eilers serving well, Advance scored seven consecutive points and cruised to the win.

Bell City, which lost just four matches last season in total, will visit Bloomfield (1-3) on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

Advance will travel to Leopold (4-1) on Thursday at 7 p.m.