Notre Dame falls on home floor

Meadow Heights limped into the home of the Notre Dame Lady Bulldogs a little shorthanded, personnel-wise, but with no shortage of desire.

The Lady Panthers' girls volleyball team defeated Notre Dame 15-10, 5-15, 15-6 Monday night

"This team really pulled together and wanted to prove something tonight, because we had some unfortunate events occur," said Meadow Heights coach Erin Hoffman.

Meadow Heights (15-2) lost three varsity players, including senior starters Ashley Brune with an ankle injury and Jamie Heitman with a broken arm. Top sub Maria Ferguson was out due to an automobile accident.

Said Hoffman, "We lost a lot of leadership with Brune out; some of the girls really stepped it up."

With two of the top teams in the area competing, the match was expected to be close and exciting and it lived up to that billing. Notre Dame had defeated Meadow Heights in the SEMO Tournament earlier this month.

Both teams displayed excellent floor games, but Notre Dame faltered at the service line throughout the contest.

"If you don't get your serves over, you're not going to beat anybody," said Notre Dame coach Helen Payne. "I don't care how good of a floor you play."

Notre Dame (11-2-1) took command early in the first set, taking a 6-1 lead. Then Meadow Heights, led by the stellar net play of Holly Boyd, came back to draw into a tie at 7-7. The Lady Bulldogs rallied to pull ahead at 10-7, before Meadow Heights went on an 8-0 run to close out the game.

In the second set, Notre Dame rode the strong play of the front row combination of Jennifer Van Gennip and Courtney Vickery to the match-tying win.

Notre Dame took the early lead again at 4-1 in the deciding set, but 11 unanswered points by the Lady Panthers vaulted them to a 12-4 advantage and an insurmountable lead.

Boyd led Meadow Heights with 12 kills, two stuff blocks and eight digs. Hanna James contributed seven kills and five digs, while setter Jami Fulton recorded 18 assists and eight digs.

Notre Dame's Vickery led her team with nine kills and nine digs. Meredith LeGrand had a game-high total of 14 digs.

In the JV contest, Meadow Heights won 15-15, 4-15, 16-14.