Dexter VB is 'confident' in C3D1 semifinal match with talented ND

DEXTER – For the second time in five days, the Dexter High School volleyball team has to face an incredibly good Notre Dame squad, which has already beaten the Bearcats twice this season. However, that doesn’t mean that there is a lack of confidence floating throughout the Dexter locker room.

Dexter (17-13) will host the Bulldogs (23-6-3) tonight at the Bearcat Event Center at 5 p.m. in the semifinal round of the MSHSAA Class 3 District 1 Tournament.

The Bearcats fell to Notre Dame 2-0 in the Dig For Life Tournament in early September, but last Wednesday battled Notre Dame to five sets before falling 3-2.

“Looking at the way we started (that match),” first-year Dexter coach Haylee Orf said, “we adjusted a little bit, and the three sets we lost, there was an adjustment there that I think would have helped us out a lot.”

Following that match, Orf walked into the Bearcat locker room and saw confidence, not discouragement, in her players’ faces.

“We got in the locker room,” Orf recalled, “and I could feel that (the Bearcat players) believe that we can beat these teams that I continue to tell them that we can beat.”

Dexter did a lot of things well, despite the loss to Notre Dame, and the three months of hard work showed in a 3-0 opening-round win over Doniphan on Thursday.

“That was a special night,” Orf said of the regular-season finale against Notre Dame. “There was nothing but positive vibes in that locker room.”

The Bearcats enjoyed a recent five-game win streak before falling three straight times in matches against Advance, Perryville, and Notre Dame.

Orf broke down the game film and actually felt better after watching her team on tape against the Bulldogs.

“It was obvious that we were missing some things that typically we don’t miss,” Orf said.

Orf said her team’s “focus” was much improved against the Donettes than it had been 24 hours earlier against Notre Dame.

“I was proud of them for taking their focus on the misses from (the Notre Dame match) and locking in on those (against Doniphan),” Orf continued. “That is going to get us ready for (tonight’s match).”

Dexter opened the season by losing six of its initial seven matches but has improved with each week, as Orf’s team has won 16 of its last 24 matches.

“They have a lot of confidence,” Orf said of tonight’s game. “Throughout the season, I told them what they could do, and they are still battling. They have lost to some of these taller teams, and that is hard. The adversity gets tough to continue to keep that confidence when you get pressed down.

“But I believe that the longer you keep pressing (back), then the more belief that you continue to create, and great things happen.”

Notre Dame is the No. 1 seed in the tournament while Dexter is the No. 4 seed.

No. 2-seed Saxony Lutheran (22-7-2) will face No. 4-seed Fredericktown (23-6-2) in the other semifinal tonight at 6:30 p.m.

The District championship match will be on Tuesday in Dexter at 6 p.m.