District volleyball tourneys start Monday

The Perryville volleyball team advanced to its first final four in school history a season ago.

This week the Pirates will start a new postseason run by trying to defend their title at the Class 3 District 1 tournament at Notre Dame.

Perryville, which received the top seed and the only bye in the tournament, will face the winner of Monday night's matchup between Kennett and New Madrid County Central at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

By earning the top seed, the Pirates assured themselves of not having to face No. 2 seed Notre Dame or No. 3 seed Dexter -- two of the best teams in Southeast Missouri this season -- until the championship match.

"It was important because with Dexter and Notre Dame both being in it, that way we -- if we're fortunate enough to get past the first-round game -- don't have to play Dexter and Notre Dame, we only have to play one of them," Perryville coach Dave Mirly said. "Getting the one seed is important, but it wasn't everything because we won as a two seed last year. It just makes the road possibly a little bit easier."

The Pirates could see Notre Dame in the championship game for the fourth consecutive year. Perryville defeated Notre Dame 25-21, 22-25, 25-20 on Oct. 7 and 25-19, 26-24 to claim the Notre Dame VolleyballFest title on Sept. 7.

Perryville has beaten the Bulldogs for the district title the last two seasons after losing to them three years ago. All of those matches were played on a neutral court at Dexter.

"If we get a chance to play them for a district championship game -- especially at their place -- they're going to have a ton of people there and with it being a lot closer for us, too, I'm excited because I know we'll have a lot of people there also," Mirly said. "We've been playing in front of loud buildings and loud gyms all year long, and we have a great fan base, so our girls feed off of that kind of energy and that kind of excitement in the gym.

"So we're excited, we just hope we get the opportunity to play in the district championship game."

In Class 1 District 4, second-seeded St. Vincent looks to avenge its district championship losses from the past two seasons.

The Indians will play the winner between Advance and Oran at 7:15 p.m. Monday at Meadow Heights.

Advance defeated St. Vincent 26-24, 28-26 in the district championship game last year.

"I know for sure I've thought about it probably every day for the last year," St. Vincent coach Tim Haffner said about the championship loss. "I know a lot of the girls have. ... We literally could not have been any closer to having that district title. I know the girls want it bad. They've thought about it for sure.

"They know it was definitely a possibility there last year that we had and we let it slip away. I think they're hungry for it. The last two years we've finished second in the district and it's something the girls are trying to improve upon. I'm hoping the same thing does not happen again this year."

If St. Vincent wins Monday, it would likely face top-seeded Leopold in the championship at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. Leopold, which will face either Oak Ridge or Meadow Heights in the semifinals, defeated St. Vincent 25-19, 26-24 on Monday. St. Vincent upset the Wildcats in a district semifinal last season.

"Just a couple things that I think we could tweak that we worked on this week in practice, and I'm excited to get a chance to play Leopold again," Haffner said. "We don't want to overlook Advance obviously, but we are expecting to be in that district final with Leopold, and we're looking forward to it."

Bell City will open Class 1 District 2 play against Clarkton at 4 p.m. Monday at Bernie while Zalma will face Marquand in Class 1 District 3 at 5 p.m. Monday at Greenville.

No. 3 seed Saxony Lutheran will host the Class 2 District 3 tournament that also features No. 2 seed Woodland and No. 6 seed Scott City.

Jackson is the host for Class 4 District 1. The Indians, who are seeded third, will face Sikeston at 5:15 p.m. on Monday for the right to face No. 2 seed Poplar Bluff in the semifinals later that night. No. 5 seed Central will face Hillsboro at 4 p.m. for the right to face top-seeded Farmington.