High school volleyball: Clarkton pushes Bell City to 4 in loss

GIDEON — The Bell City High School volleyball team defeated Clarkton in straight sets on Monday, Sept. 25.

Clarkton played Bell City better the second time around; however, the Cubs still took care of the Reindeer in four sets by scores of 25-15, 22-25, 25-22, 25-20 in the Class 1 District 2 Tournament Saturday afternoon.

Still, Clarkton had an outstanding season with its second-best ever record in school history at 27-7-1 and its first Tri-County Conference tournament championship.

Clarkton�s Brinley Cowart (7) plays the ball off the net during a good point for the Reindeer in Saturday�s Class 1 District 2 match versus Bell City. The Cubs downed the Reindeer in four sets. (Photo by Eric Viccaro, staff)

“I am extremely proud of all them, and the personal growth they’ve all had on and off the court,” Clarkton head coach Amy Cowart said. “My girls fought as hard as they could fight, and left it all on the floor.”

Bell City improved to 22-9-2, and a date with Gideon in the district championship. The match took place too late for this press run of the Delta Dunklin Democrat.

Three Reindeer played in their final scholatic match, libero Lexi Elizondo and hitters Bree Winchester and Alana Crowder.

Bell City's Maddie Asher (6) plays the ball during a Class 1 District 2 semifinal match versus Clarkton from Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023, at Gideon. The Cubs defeated the Reindeer in four sets. (Photo by Eric Viccaro, staff)

It was a year of milestones for Clarkton, with Elizondo surpassing 1,000 digs, Winchester more than 500 kills with the Reindeer and setter Brinley Cowart — who could very well finish her career with nearly 3,000 assists when all is said and done in 2024.

Clarkton had trouble contending with a pair of outstanding hitters in Cubs Elaina Bowling and Maddie Asher, coach Cowart reported via message.

Bowling finished the match with 19 kills, and an eye-popping .679 hitting percentage, a metric used to measure attack efficiency, plus four aces, 22 points of her serve alone, and six ace blocks. Asher had 16 kills and a team-leading 12 digs.

Clarkton closed within three points of Bell City in the third set (23-20) before the Cubs won the final two rallies.

The Reindeer performed at their best in the second set (winning it by three) as Clarkton’s attack forced Bell City into hitting errors, including on the final one of the salvo.

Asher pounded a kill down the line to give the Cubs the first set — in convincing fashion by 10 points.

Mollie Mannon clinched the third set for Bell City on a clever cross-court tip Clarkton had no response for. Mannon added three ace blocks and eight kills.

In her final scholatic match, Winchester recorded 23 kills (but hit just .194) and she served up a team-best three aces. Angel Johnson added 14 kills and Nayely Rivera seven.

Defense kept Clarkton going versus Bell City, with Elizondo recording 17 digs, Cowart 15 and Rivera and Winchester 13 each. The Reindeer finished with 67 digs as a team (16.8 digs per set). Cowart added 44 assists.

Bell City setter Madison Jines finished the match with 35 assists.