Another Notre Dame takes title

For the third straight year, there was a Notre Dame team in the finals of the B.A. Sports Volleyball Tournament.

But Saturday at the Show Me Center, Notre Dame -- the St. Louis school, not the Cape Girardeau school -- made its first appearance in the finals against Farmington. Notre Dame won 25-22, 25-22.

"They played really well," Notre Dame coach Debbie Nicollerat said.

The first game stayed close, although Notre Dame led the whole way. Farmington never fell more than five points behind though and cut the lead to 24-22 before falling.

The second game looked like it would be all Notre Dame. The Rebels jumped out 7-0 and led by as much as 20-10 before Farmington made a late comeback.

Farmington stormed all the way back to 23-22 but would not get any closer.

"We sometimes have trouble finishing the second game," Nicollerat said.

Notre Dame had a tough draw to the finals and defeated Lindbergh and Cape Notre Dame along the way. This was the second year St. Louis Notre Dame has defeated Cape Notre Dame in a tournament.

"I don't think they were real happy to see us," Nicollerat said.

No return trips

After repeat finals appearances from Cape Notre Dame, this year's B.A. Sports tournament was not so kind to area teams.

Leopold, Jackson, Notre Dame and Advance all went undefeated in pool play. But once in the gold bracket, none of the teams got past the quarterfinals.

Bell City upset Leopold in the gold bracket first round in three games. New Haven sent Jackson packing after the first round in two games.

Notre Dame and Advance each won opening round matches before being bounced in two games in the quarterfinals. Notre Dame lost to St. Louis Notre Dame 25-23, 25-13, and Advance lost to Lindbergh 25-12, 27-25.

Nicole Tropf led Advance in kills against Lindbergh with eight. Alicia Broshuis had eight assists for the Hornets. Tropf also led Advance in kills against Clearwater in the opening round of gold bracket play with 12.

Bell City fell to Farmington 25-11, 25-12 in the quarterfinals. Katie Niemczyk led the Cubs with seven digs and four kills in the loss. Niemczyk added 18 digs and 16 kills in Bell City's win over Leopold. Katie Goodman had 14 digs in the Leopold match.

Central finished 5-5 in pool play and lost to Oak Ridge in two games in the opening round of silver bracket play.

St. Vincent finished third in its pool and lost to Park Hills Central in the opening round in the silver bracket. Sierra Paulus led the team in kills in three of four matches Saturday with 19. Miranda Weinkein had nine assists in St. Vincent's loss to Park Hills. Meghan Comte had a big day serving with 15 points in the first two matches of the day.

Scott City also lost in the first round of silver bracket play. They lost to St. Elizabeth 25-20, 14-25, 25-18. Gideon won the silver bracket final over Park Hills, 25-14, 16-25, 25-22.

jjoffray@semissourian.com

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