Conference volleyball tourneys to be played

The SEMO Conference tournament will be among three played this week.

Southeast Missourian

For area volleyball fans, today marks the start of conference tournament week.

Three area conferences, the SEMO Conference, Mississippi Valley Conference and Stoddard County Activities Association, will all conduct their conference tournaments this week.

Stoddard County teams will get the week's activities started with a pair of games tonight. Fourth-seeded Woodland will play No. 5 Bernie, the host school, and No. 2 Dexter will face No. 7 Puxico.

Bell City has the top seed and is sporting a 21-3-1 record. The Cubs will face No. 8 Richland on Tuesday.

Advance is seeded third and will face No. 6 Bloomfield on Tuesday.

The finals are set for 7 p.m. on Friday.

The Mississippi Valley Conference tournament will start on Thursday at Saxony Lutheran. Leopold, the top seed, and No. 2 Meadow Heights will each have byes into the semifinals.

Fourth-seeded Oak Ridge will play No. 5 Marquand in one quarterfinal on Thursday, and No. 3 Zalma will play No. 6 Saxony Lutheran in another quarterfinal on Thursday.

The semifinals will also be played on Thursday, with the finals set for 7:30 p.m. on Friday.

The six-team SEMO Conference tournament will get under way on Thursday at Scott City. The tournament will use a pool-play format, with the three Pool A teams playing the Pool B teams.

Scott City is seeded first and will be in a pool with No. 4 Sikeston and No. 5 Oran. Central, the second seed, is in a pool with No. 3 New Madrid County Central and No. 6 Chaffee.

The championship will be played at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

Central tennis team tries to secure sectional berth

After qualifying two doubles teams for the state tournament, Central's girls tennis team will try to earn its way into the sectional round of the team state playoffs with a dual Tuesday against Cor Jesu.

This is the first year for team district, where the top four teams from the district tournament play dual matches to determine the two teams which advance to the sectional round.

Central won the district and will host Cor Jesu at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Cor Jesu finished fourth at the district tournament after Katie Wanner finished third in the singles bracket.

Rockwood Summit will host Eureka for the other sectional berth from Class 2 District 1.

If the Tigers win, they would host a sectional dual on Saturday.

Central, Notre Dame move up in soccer poll

Notre Dame Regional High School jumped up two positions to No. 5 in Class 2 in the most recent Missouri Soccer Coaches Association top 10 poll.

The Bulldogs are 14-2-2, with their last loss coming to defending Class 1 state champion Whitfield on Sept. 9.

Central, winners of five straight, moved up to sixth in the Class 3 top 15 poll. The Tigers (17-2) were ranked seventh in the first poll.

Chaminade is ranked No. 1 in Class 3, Priory in Class 2 and Pembroke Hill in Class 1.