Bell City rings up another district crown with victory over Advance

For the third straight year Bell City and Advance met in the championship of the Class 1 District 2 volleyball tournament.

The rivals again played a back and forth match, and once again Bell City came out on top. The Cubs knocked off Advance for the third straight year with a 25-23, 25-21 win at Bell City on Tuesday.

Bell City (27-5-1) will play at 3 p.m. Saturday at Advance in the sectional round against the winner of District 4.

"I have to give props to Advance for not letting up," Bell City coach Erin Hoffman said. "They came at us and came at us all night long. They didn't make things easy."

In the opening game the No. 2 seeded Hornets (16-13-2) led 7-5 before Bell City junior Megan Slagley went to work. Slagley hit three kills in a row to give top-seeded Bell City a 10-8 lead and force a Hornets timeout.

Advance managed to tie the score at 10-10, but Bell City scored the next seven points, three coming off aces from freshman Codie Lancaster, to open up a 17-10 lead.

"I think during the first game their one girl scored seven or eight points in a row. That run should never have happened," Advance coach Kimberly Smith said.

Bell City led 21-15 when the Hornets began to come back. Out of another Advance timeout, the Hornets scored six of the next seven points to close the gap to 22-21. Angela Broshuis tied the score following a Bell City timeout with a kill, and Advance grabbed a 23-22 lead. But consecutive kills by Jenny Lathum gave Bell City the momentum for good.

"This is one of the first times in district where I was really nervous," Hoffman said.

The second game did nothing to calm Hoffman's nerves, as neither team led by more than three points until Bell City seized control late. Advance again led early in the game, but Bell City did not trail after taking a 8-7 lead. The game had four more ties before the Cubs pulled away. The match ended on a kill by Rachel Spears.

Hoffman said the passing ofLancaster really helped the Cubs.

"I give a lot of credit to our setter, the way she mixed up the offense," Hoffman said. "Being a freshman that's pretty amazing."

Slagley finished with six kills and four digs for Bell City. Spears led the Cubs with eight kills, eight digs and nine blocks. Spears had four stuff blocks.

"She has picked it up," Hoffman said of Spears. "The last five or six games right before district came she wasn't a threat at all. So in district she really stepped it up. I feel her passing is one of the best on the team, and on offense she didn't let down."

Broshuis led Advance with 11 kills. Stephania Jordan had nine digs, Gina Moroni had five kills and Alicia Reeves had 11 assists.

Smith said she felt her team played better against the Cubs on Tuesday than during an earlier meeting, but Bell City simply got to too many balls.

"I think they are just so smart in their offense and quick on their feet," she said.