BULLDOG KICKERS PEPPER SIKESTON WITH EIGHT GOALS

SIKESTON -- Notre Dame High's soccer team continued its strong early-season play by rolling past host Sikeston 8-2 Thursday.

The Bulldogs, now 4-1, got two goals apiece from Jason Garner, Ryan Fenwick and Oliver Sanders. Jonathan LeGrand and Wesley Steele both scored once while Garner, LeGrand, Steele, Adam Obermiller and Mark Buehrle all had assist.

"I thought we played well," said Notre Dame coach Brad Wittenborn, whose squad led 5-1 at halftime. "We're off to a pretty good start this year, but like all teams, we still have a lot of things we need to improve on."

Notre Dame also won the JV game 5-1. Luke Meystedt and Luke Oliver both scored two goals while Chris Dirnberger had one.

The Bulldogs will host Paducah (Ky.) Tilghman at 1 p.m. Saturday.

VOLLEYBALL

Jackson 15-15,

Cape Central 3-7

Jackson improved to 5-1 by rolling past host Cape Central Thursday.

Valerie Jansen led the attack with seven kills and Chrissi Glastetter added five and Sara Nothdurft had four. Heather Brown contributed 10 assists and Jennifer Ellis had seven. Defensively, Bridgett Tracy came up with nine digs.

"We played well overall," said Jackson coach Nancy Ellis.

Jackson made it a clean sweep as the JV won 15-9, 15-6 and the freshmen romped 15-4, 15-5.

The Lady Indians will return to action Saturday in the North County Tournament.

Notre Dame 15-15

Oak Ridge 4-4

OAK RIDGE -- Notre Dame improved to 4-1 with a comfortable win on the road Thursday.

Sara Westrich had 12 assists and Bonnie Essner led the Lady Bulldogs with four kills. Kelly Canfield served nine points in the second game to help push Notre Dame to victory

"We played smart," said Notre Dame coach Janet Buchheit.

Notre Dame's JV also won 15-9, 12-15, 15-12 to improve to 3-6.

The Lady Bulldogs will play at Scott City Monday.

Ste. Genevieve 15-15

St. Vincent 6-10

STE. GENEVIEVE -- St. Vincent fell to 2-2 by losing on the road Thursday.

Jessica Lakeman led the Squaws' offense with seven kills while Debbie Welker had a strong match with 18 assists. Rachael Schnurbusch served five points while Janelle Schumer had eight digs.

"The match was closer than the scores indicate," said St. Vincent coach Stacie Bauwens. "There were a lot of long rallies but most of them didn't go our way."

St. Vincent will compete in the North County Tournament Saturday.

Woodland Tournament

MARBLE HILL -- Top-seeded Leopold and No. 3 Meadow Heights posted semifinal victories Thursday to advance to tonight's championship match of the Woodland Tournament.

Leopold beat No. 4 Zalma 15-11, 15-9 while Meadow Heights downed No. 2 and host Woodland 15-4, 15-13.

Also Thursday, in consolation play, Advance defeated Greenville 15-9, 15-7.

Tonight, Advance and Bloomfield will play for the consolation

SOFTBALL

Jackson 3, Hillsboro 1

JACKSON -- Jackson remained red hot Thursday by prevailing at home for its seventh straight victory.

The Lady Indians (8-5) got a strong pitching performance from Staci Seabaugh. She allowed six hits and no earned runs while striking out four.

Jackson, which had only four hits, scored twice in the sixth inning to break a 1-1 tie. Melissa Palmer had an RBI single while Megan Kuntze drove home Emily Sander all the way from second base with a ground out to deep short.

"We've really been playing well lately," said Jackson coach Becky Riney.

The Lady Indians play at Twin Rivers Monday.

Kelly 13, Perryville 6

BENTON -- Kelly's Lady Hawks rallied past the visiting Perryville Lady Pirates Thursday to improve to 5-0.

Kim Riley pitched the final five innings for the win and drove home five runs with two doubles. Pam Essner led Kelly's hitters, going 4-for-5 with a triple.

"It was a pretty exciting game for the first few innings," said Kelly coach Rhonda Evans. "Perryville really pounded the ball."

In fact, the Lady Pirates out-hit Kelly 15-14. Kelly trailed 4-2 after two innings, before the Lady Hawks scored four runs in the fourth inning and five in the sixth to pull away for the win.

Melissa Essner had three hits and Natalie Robert and Ashley Beggs added two each.

Kelly plays at Egyptian, Ill., today.

GIRLS TENNIS

Cape Central 9, Carbondale 0

Cape Central pounded visiting Carbondale, Ill., Thursday to improve to 3-0 in dual matches.

The JV girls also swept their matches, winning 8-0.

The Lady Tigers play at Kennett Monday.

Central 9, Carbondale 0

Singles

Lisa Ahstrom (CC) def. Cara Cornell, 8-1

Lara Golike (CC) def. Julie Pharris, 8-0

Summer Chaudhari (CC) def. Angela Hunter, 8-0

Rachelle Thomas (CC) def. Shawne Bruno, 8-0

Liz Russell (CC) def. Marisa Lather, 6-0 (retired)

Julie Lessmann (CC) def. Mariah Brown, 8-1

Doubles

Ahstrom-Chaudhari (CC) def. Cornell-Hunter, 8-0

Golike-Thomas (CC) def. Pharris-Bruno, 8-0

Russell-Lessman (CC) def. Lather-Brown 8-0

JV winners

Singles -- Jessica Campbell, Sarah Chaudhari, Kristen McDougall, Beth Bishop, Hannah Weir, Stephanie Parker; Doubles -- Jessica Burns-Kelley Green, Rebecca Bieser-Leslie Wagoner

Charleston 5, Jackson 4

JACKSON -- Jackson's netters suffered their first loss of the season Thursday as visiting Charleston reversed an earlier 5-4 defeat to the Lady Indians.

"It was a good match," said Jackson coach Linda Adams, whose squad fell to 5-1 in duals. "We beat them 5-4 at their place and now they got us 5-4 at our place. But my girls never gave up."

In one of the better matches of the day, at No. 1 singles, Jackson's Lena Steinberg defeated Charleston's Sayler Ault 8-4. Ault was fourth in last year's Class 1A-3A state meet.

Charleston also won the JV match 8-4.

Jackson returns to action Tuesday at Cape Central.

Charleston 5, Jackson 4

Singles

Lena Steinberg (J) def. Sayler Ault 8-4

Jenny O'Rourke (C) def. Sarah Culbertson 8-2

Lynn Casteel (J) def. Whitney DeLay 8-4

Laura Whitehead (C) def. Lauren Young 8-2

Mary Margeret Story (C) def. Beth Lefebvre 8-2

Julie McDowell (C) def. Emily O'Loughlin 8-2

Doubles

Steinberg-Casteel (J) def. Ault-O'Rourke 8-4

Culbertson-Young (J) def. DeLay-Whitehead 8-4

Story-McDowell (C) def. Lefebvre-O'Loughlin 8-6

JV winners

Singles -- Annie Lefebvre, Sarah Propst, Jessica Seabaugh; Doubles -- Lefebvre-Propst.

FRESHMEN FOOTBALL

Cape Central 34, Carbondale 12

Cape Central's freshmen improved to 2-0 by routing visiting Carbondale, Ill., Thursday.

Jamel Austin and Otis Turner both scored two touchdowns on runs for Central while Jeff Dunaway hit Ricky Ogles with a 19-yard pass for the other TD. Brian Emmendorfer kicked four extra points.

Austin rushed for 103 yards on 12 carries while Turner added 84 yards on 12 attempts. Dunaway completed five of 10 passes for 51 yards and Zac Fidler came up with an interception.

Central returns to action next Thursday at Seckman in Arnold.

Hillsboro 20, Jackson 0

JACKSON -- Jackson's freshmen got their season started Thursday with a shutout loss.

Both the eighth and ninth grade will play at Poplar Bluff next Thursday.