Defending state champion No. 2 in Woodland lineup

Defending Class 1 state champions Leopold will be among a group of eight teams in the Woodland Volleyball Tournament, which begins Tuesday.

Bell City is the No. 1 seed ahead of Leopold. The Cubs return a strong group that includes senior setter Whitney Abner and top hitter Katie Niemczyk.

Leopold has all-state setter Wendy Vandeven back, along with all-district hitter Tasha Thele.

Greenville is the No. 3 seed and will face No. 6 Woodland. No. 4 Zalma will face No. 5 Chaffee, Leopold will face Oak Ridge and Bell City takes on the No. 8 Jackson junior varsity team.

The championship game will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Rivals Central, Jackson hook up for trio of games

The rivalry of Jackson and Central will have a busy week with three games between the schools.

The week will start with Central visiting Jackson 7 p.m. Tuesday for the boys soccer opener for both teams. Central returns a senior-laden lineup led by Heath Orr.

After the boys get things started Tuesday the girls will square off twice Wednesday. Central will visit Jackson at 4 p.m. in softball while Jackson goes to Central at 4 p.m. in tennis.

Anna-Jonesboro, Cairo get off to opposite starts

One team is coming off of its third straight playoff appearance. The other almost folded after last season.

The Anna-Jonesboro and Cairo football teams continued to go in opposite directions Friday when the Wildcats picked up a close victory and Cairo lost in a rout.

Anna-Jonesboro started its season with a costly 16-14 win over West Frankfort. The Wildcats lost starting left tackle Joel Dallas on the first offensive play after he fractured two bones in his leg.

Wildcats starting quarterback Mark Chamness was 8-for-10 for 134 yards passing to lead the offense.

Cairo, on the road for its opener, lost 58-6 against Fairfield.

College notes

Central High School product J.P. Limbaugh had a big game for Quincy in Thursday's loss to SIU, catching eight passes for 89 yards and a touchdown.

Jackson graduate Brett LaForest made his collegiate soccer debut for Dana College and scored a goal in a 6-0 win over Grace University in Dana's season opener.

Jackson product Jessie Koeper has 16 kills through Southeast Missouri State University's first three volleyball matches.