Leopold takes first step in its quest to return to final four

ADVANCE -- The Leopold girls volleyball team goes into every match trying to get into that zone where it rattles off point after point.

On Tuesday night, that came late in the first game, which the Wildcats closed out with six consecutive points. They rode that momentum into the second game, scoring the first nine points.

"We were all excited because we wanted to see how far we could extend our lead," Leopold senior Casey Bucher said. "We wanted to go all the way with the least amount of points."

The Wildcats, a state final four team last year, yielded a few points but were dominating in the Class 1 District 3 championship match with a 25-15, 25-12 victory against host Advance.

Leopold, the top-seeded team in the district, flexed its muscles in both of its matches Tuesday, which included the semifinal round. After pushing aside Saxony Lutheran 25-10, 25-23 in the semis, the Wildcats (24-3-1) found the the zone late in the first game against Advance (12-13).

Leopold teammates congratulate Jessica Bueter after she scored a point during the second game against Advance.

The Hornets never led, but hovered within four points most of the opening game, getting back within that range at 19-15 on a kill by Cindy Simmers. But Leopold was sparked on its closing run by Seirra Seiler's crushing kill, which was followed by Kirsten Thele's kill, another kill by Seiler, a dink from Amy Lendewee and a service ace by Casey Bucher for a 24-15 lead. Advance hit the ball long with an attack on game point, but it wasn't the Hornets' mistakes as much as Leopold's play.

"Leopold is good," Advance coach Dana Below said. "They're tall, they're athletic."

Leopold senior Chelsey Stoverink, who with Bucher started on last year's Class 1 third-place team, had another good word for it: powerful.

"It feels nice to know if you get a good dig, they are going to get the ball down," said Stoverink, a defensive specialist. "We have a very powerful front line. All of our hitters are really good to turn to, and I'm confident in all of them that they will get a hit. And even if they don't, they come back the next time and do."

The Wildcats continued coming in waves to open the second game. After Advance served the ball out -- one of four serving errors in the game -- Leopold rattled off kill after kill: Bucher off a block, Seiler on back-to-back points, Danielle Beel from the middle. Bucher had two more kills and Beel another as Leopold got to 9-0.

ELIZABETH DODD ~ edodd@semissourian.comLeopold's Danielle Beel blocks a spike by an Advance player during the championship match of the Class 1 District 3 tournament in Advance.

"They really gelled well tonight," Wildcats coach Sandy Davis said of her players. "All season long, they've been up and down and last week, we played well; and we really played well tonight."

Leopold will go to Bell City on Saturday for the sectional and quarterfinal rounds.

"We've got to work hard on Saturday," Stoverink said. "The main thing is we have to work together. Whenever we actually play together and talk and keep each other's confidence, we feed off that."

Leopold had a balanced attack in the final: Seiler had eight kills while Bucher, Beel and Landewee each had six. Lauren Seiler had 17 assists, while Stoverink and Kelli Woodfin each had seven digs.

For Advance, Simmers had four kills and three blocks and Hannah Barr had three blocks.

"We didn't pass," Below said. "Passing is what gets us a lot of times. Passing and serving. We just didn't play very well the second game."

Advance had advanced to the final with a 13-25, 25-15, 25-20 win against Meadow Heights in the preceding match. The Hornets rattled off the final five points to win that match.

Sophomore Nikki Cantrell had five aces. Barr had seven kills, while Simmers had six. Sara Mace had 11 assists.

For Meadow Heights, which finished 18-12, Courtney Brune had eight kills in the semifinal loss.