Bell City rings up the Silver Bracket title at tourney

Bell City's volleyball team narrowley missed out on making the winners Gold Bracket on Saturday at the B.A. Sports Volleyball Tournament.

Rather than hang their heads, the Cubs came out and won four straight matches to take the Silver Bracket title at the Show Me Center. Bell City came from behind against Seckman for a 13-25, 25-17, 15-10.

"If we'd have gone gold, we probably would have lost in the first round," Bell City coach Erin Hoffman said.

Like its semifinal match, Bell City came out flat in the first game of the finals. Seckman scored seven straight points after trailing 2-0, and moved ahead by as much as 13-5 before Bell City put together a few points. The Cubs closed the score to 16-10 before Seckman pulled away for the 25-13 game-one win.

"We've pretty much been doing that all day. We come out our first game and get way behind," Hoffman said.

The second game was a back-and-forth affair. Bell City took the early lead, forcing a Seckman timeout up 10-6. Seckman used the timeout to regroup and tied the score at 11-11.

Bell City stayed in front the rest of the game, gaining momentum after Seckman closed to within 17-16. A big block put the score at 22-17, and Bell City closed it out from there.

Hoffman said she did not have to do much between games to get her team back in gear.

"I pretty much told them if we're going to lose, make them earn it," she said. "Other than that, the girls pretty much pulled together themselves."

The third and decisive game saw Bell City jump out in front 5-2 before Seckman made a comeback. Seckman knotted the score at 8-8 and again at 10-10. Another big block gave Bell City a 12-10 lead and forced a Seckman timeout. Bell City made a couple of good plays and took advantage of a couple of hitting errors from there to win the match.

"We got a lot of games in, that was the most important thing," Hoffman said after her team played six matches on Saturday. "This tournament lets you see what you've got, and what you need to fix."

Bulldogs fall in semifinal

In Gold Bracket play, Notre Dame was the last local team standing once the semifinals came around. Standing in the Bulldogs' way of another B.A. finals appearance was Oakville, the team which beat Notre Dame in the finals two years ago.

Notre Dame looked like it may avenge that loss after coming out blazing in the first game, but Oakville prevailed 17-25, 25-22, 16-14. Lindbergh won the Gold Bracket finals with a 25-20, 25-18 win against the Tigers.

"We made it further than anyone else in our area. I'm real happy," Notre Dame coach Tara Stroup said. "They played good. This team beat Farmington, which beat us. With a team like this, every little mistake counts."

Notre Dame led throughout the first game, building leads of as much as 19-10 and 21-12. The second game had a much different feel, with neither team building a lead of more than three points.

Notre Dame had several leads late, at 17-15 and 20-19. Oakville used two aces to grab a 22-20 lead, but Laura Browne had consecutive kills to tie it at 22-22. Oakville used a couple of solid plays late to close out the game.

Oakville led the final game throughout, but had trouble fighting off Notre Dame. After the Tigers built an 11-5 lead, Notre Dame scored five straight points. Notre Dame tied the score at 12-12 on a block, but a service error and a late hitting error cost the Bulldogs.

"We had different ups and downs. I think overall we did a good job," Stroup said.

Browne led the Bulldogs with 13 kills in the loss. Amanda Essner added 11 kills. Amber Karnes had 12 assists, Allison Essner finished with eight assists and Kelsey Scheeter had nine digs. Karnes added 11 service points.