High school roundup: Woodland volleyball claims tournament title for first time since 2004

Second-seeded host Woodland knocked off top-seeded Advance in a three-set thriller 23-25, 25-21, 25-20 to capture its first Woodland Invitational Tournament championship in 11 years.

"We really came out and stayed focused and they played with a lot of drive and I'm very proud of them for that," fifth-year Woodland coach Kacie Patton said. "They played with a lot of emotion, and I haven't seen that in a long time."

Sophomore Krista Rhodes led the Cardinals with 18 kills, 10 digs and three aces. Shelby Sawyer recorded 10 kills and 14 digs and Chelsea Cureton notched 12 digs. Madison Cover dished out 13 assists and Anna Deck added 11 assists for Woodland (4-0-2), which clinched its first tournament title since the 2004 season. Hannah Scott had six blocks and Emma Rinacke had four blocks.

Despite the loss, first-year Advance coach Erin Hoffman was still proud of her team.

"I saw my girls do many great things that I and they had never seen them do before," she said. "We have some work to do on minimizing unforced errors, but I'm very excited about the huge growth we had physically, mentally and playing as a team."

For Woodland, Patton also said her team showed mental toughness when it counted the most.

"They ended up being mentally strong at the end because they pulled it out," she said. "They focused and they ran away with it when we go into those tight situations."

Advance (4-1-2) swept fifth-seeded Bell City 25-14, 25-19 in the first semifinal of the night. Woodland beat third-seeded Saxony Lutheran 25-19, 25-20 in the other semifinal to advance to the championship match. The Crusaders edged the Cubs 25-20, 25-21 to win third place. Jordan Hecht recorded nine assists, six digs, four kills and one block to lead the Crusaders (3-1-2). Allie Sprink tallied five kills and four digs and Logan Franke had three kills and two blocks.

Second-year Saxony coach Julie Brandmeyer said she was very pleased of her team's overall performance in the tournament.

"I think that we had a terrific defensive effort," she said. "Our team chemistry really came through in a pinch and helped us win some ballgames. ...I'm always proud of them. They're such a hardworking group."

Bell City fell to 3-2-1 with the losses.

All-tournament honors were bestowed upon Advance's Alanis Below, Lexis Garner and Brylee Morse; Bell City's Audrey Woodson; Leopold's Emily Seiler; Meadow Heights' Sammantha Miles; Saxony's Jordan Hecht and Allie Sprink; and Woodland's Chelsea Cureton and Krista Rhodes.

Eagle Ridge 25 25, North County Christian 17 17

The Eagles swept the Crusaders in straight sets at home.

No additional information was provided.

FOOTBALL

Perryville 56, St. Pius 7

The Pirates improved to 2-0 with the lopsided win at home. Perryville will travel to Park Hills Central on Friday.

No additonal information was provided.

Crystal City 65, Kelly 33

The Hawks matchup with Crystal City got off to a good start with a kickoff return for a touchdown, but the lead didn't last long as the Hornets offense racked up score after score.

"We thought we had the momentum going our way," first-year coach Lance Powers said. "It was kind of like last week again where we would get something going [but] had trouble sustaining drives. We had a couple big plays with Maurice [Davis] that got us in the end zone a couple times, but we're still struggling sustaining long drives on offense and obviously we're having a little trouble on the defensive side of the ball wrapping up tackling.

"That's stuff that we can correct and get better at this week as we get ready for St. Vincent," he added.

Crystal City lead 14-6 after the first quarter and opened up a 42-13 lead by halftime.

"The game boils down to blocking and tackling," Powers said. "That's what we need to keep working on to get better as a team, and we'll do that. As a staff we'll keep working with the kids to improve on that. Our kids, they'll keep going, they're going to keep working hard and we'll be ready for next Friday."

The Hawks will be on the road again next week at St. Vincent, where both teams will be looking for its first win over the season.

"We're going to be able to judge some of the kids' character," Powers said. "We're 0-2 on the season already. We're going to see what kids are still all in right now, and this will be a good week of work to find out who wants to keep building and trying to get better. This will be a good character judgment for these kids this week and what kind of team they're going to be."

BOYS SOCCER

Perryville 7, Central (Breese, Ill.) 0

Emilio Mattingly netted three goals, including the game winner, and had one assist as the Pirates sailed to an easy victory over the Cougars in the opening round of the Greg Kline Invitational in Carbondale, Illinois.

Kyle Wood recorded one goal and two assists while Eann Bergman added one goal and one assist for Perryville (2-0). Cole Gerstenberger and Pablo Mattingly each scored one goal and Caleb Hadler, Austin Hotop and Dustin Borden had one assist apiece for the Pirates.

Goalkeeper Trent Unterreiner had one save in the shutout.

Anna-Jonesboro (Ill.) 4, Central 1

Corey Serrano netted the lone goal on an assist from Bennett Osborn as the Tigers fell in their season opener to the Wildcats in the first round of the Greg Kline Invitational in Carbondale, Illinois.

Goalkeeper Spencer Kidd recorded 18 saves for Central (0-1).

FALL BASEBALL

Oran 12, South Pemiscot 2

Clay Sauceda blasted two home runs and drove in seven runs as the Eagles flew to their second victory of the season at home over the Bulldogs in six innings.

Preston Hahn was the winning pitcher. He threw five innings and gave up two runs (one earned) on seven hits. He had six strikeouts and walked one.

Drew Reischman went 2 for 3 at the plate and batted in two runs for Oran (2-0).

Riley Cain sustained the loss on the mound and also doubled for South Pemiscot (0-2). He threw five innings and allowed four runs (three earned) on nine hits. He recorded six strikeouts and walked one.

South Pem. 010 001 -- 2 7 0

Oran 003 018 -- 12 12 2

WP -- Preston Hahn. LP -- Riley Cain. HR -- Clay Sauceda (O) 2. 2B -- Riley Cain (SP), Colton McCulloch (SP). Multiple hits -- Oran: Preston Hahn 2-2, Blake Overfield 2-3, Drew Reischman 2-3, Clay Sauceda 3-4; South Pemiscot: Kelly Guyton 2-3.

-- From staff reports