Cape Central downs Poplar Bluff in season opener

A fast start proved to be the difference maker in the Cape Central Tigers’ 3-0 win over the Poplar Bluff Mules on Monday at Cape Central High School.

Monday’s matchup was the regular season opener for both teams and it didn’t take long for the Tigers to get engaged.

Cape Central jumped out to a 7-1 lead early in the first set to take control.

“We came out strong and we were excited,” Tigers coach Haley Silman said. “It’s a very good thing to see the first game have no nerves and just have everyone playing their role.”

Despite going down 7-1 early, the Mules were able to battle back and keep the set close, forcing the Tigers on their heels at times.

“You have to give credit to Poplar Bluff,” Silman said. “They’re scrappy and they were picking up some of our swings and kind of had us shook on serve receive. We snapped out of it and we’re able to get our heads back in it.”

The Tigers would take the first set by a score of 25-18.

From the jump, the Tigers fed off their home crowd and played with energy.

“We’ve been practicing for three weeks,” Silman said. “We were ready to start playing. It’s been a long three weeks so we were excited to get started.”

As the second set got underway, both teams started slow as they were deadlocked at 3, but the Tigers would pull away and take a 15-7 lead.

Cape would take the second set 25-13 and a 2-0 lead in the match.

Even though the Tigers held a commanding lead, Silman made sure her team knew they couldn’t have a let down in the third set.

“We give ourselves a goal where we don’t want the other team to reach a certain amount of points in the third set,” Silman said. “It was a really good effort that they stayed up and didn’t kind of lay back and lazily play. They stayed up, they swung, they served and they played great.”

Madison Phelps and Piper Underwood led the attack for the Tigers as Phelps had 7 kills and Underwood had 6 kills in the win.

With the win Cape Central begins the 2023 season 1-0.

“It just gets their mind right,” Silman said of the season opening win. “To know that we can play well and we should just keep the ball rolling.”

Poplar Bluff (0-1) is back in action at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, August 30, when they host North County.

Cape Central (1-0) will return to play at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, August 30, when they travel to take on Sikeston for the first road game of the season.

“We’re just going to keep working on some things,” Silman said. “There’s a few things we need to tweak and work on and we’ll work on those tomorrow. Hopefully then they can adjust to some things on Wednesday and Thursday.”