High school volleyball: Gideon advances to Tri-Co title match, sweeps Risco

CARDWELL — Gideon High School volleyball coach Kristen Ashabranner said she had four possible different lineup combinations in mind heading into Thursday’s match.

Ultimately, Ashabranner chose the winning combination as the Bulldogs swept Risco, 25-10, 25-9, 25-16, in the Bootheel Conference Tournament semifinals at Southland High School’s Lewis “Tink” Richardson Gymnasium.

Ashabranner said she combed through plenty of film in order to find something that worked. Did it ever.

Gideon�s Skyla Woodall (2) and Risco�s Natalie Collier (18) have an exchange at the net during a Tri-County Conference Tournament semifinal match dated Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023, at Lewis �Tink� Richardson Gymnasium in Cardwell.(Photo by Eric Viccaro, staff)

“I thought we hit the ball well, and played very well defensively,” Ashabranner said.

The Bulldogs’ work along the back row during serve receive situations led to more hitting options and chances for the front line.

Gideon improved to 20-7-1, and faced nearby rival Clarkton for the league title on Friday night. Look for a recap on the match in the Tuesday, Oct. 17, edition of the Delta Dunklin Democrat.

Gala Darmofal (4) of Gideon grimaces after sending a kill past Natalie Collier of Risco during a Tri-County Conference semifinal match dated Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023, from Cardwell. (Photo by Eric Viccaro, staff)

Meanwhile, Risco dropped to 18-11.

“Last night was not our best match,” Risco head coach Jessie King said in an email on Friday afternoon. “We have a tough offensive lineup, but that didn’t show due to the fact we could not defend Gideon’s offense.”

For Risco, now it’s time to begin preparations for the upcoming Class 1 District 2 tournament scheduled for Gideon High School beginning Friday, Oct. 20.

Gideon's Jaelyn Smith looks to the bench for the serve call during a Tri-County Conference semifinal match in Cardwell. (Photo by Eric Viccaro, staff)

In the opening set, Gideon was ahead 9-8 before going on a massive scoring run, capped by a kill from senior outside hitter Gala Darmofal.

In a case of deja vu, Darmofal had the clinching kill on Point No. 25 of the second set.

Risco and Gideon exchanged points early in the third set. However, the Bulldogs scored the final two points of the match thanks to respective kills from Lexis Fry and Madison Bonee.

Natalie Collier (18) of Risco hits the ball along the front row during a Tri-County Conference volleyball tournament semifinal dated Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023, from Cardwell.

Gideon setter Jayden Buchanan ran the Bulldog offense crisply — to the tune of 35 assists, and she also had seven digs.

Darmofal finished with 14 kills (.406 hitting efficiency, a metric used to define a strong attacking performance) and Bonee 11 kills (0.318).

Defensively, the Bulldogs had five solo ace blocks and finished with 61 digs as a team.

Mady Clenney was Gideon’s leader in digs with 19 while Skyla Woodall had 10 and Lily Watkins and Darmofal eight apiece. Clenney also had three ace serves with Lexus Muller and Buchanan two each.

Natalie Collier paced Risco’s offense with five kills. Lydia Albritton served up four aces and scooped up 14 digs. Jaelynn Presley had three ace blocks.

Gideon has drawn the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye for next week’s Class 1 District 2 tournament, which means it won’t play until the semifinals on Saturday, Oct. 21.