Notre Dame spikers sweep aside Scott City

After an early exit in the B.A. Sports Volleyball Classic over the weekend, Notre Dame Regional High School showed no lingering effects in a 25-13, 26-24 sweep of the Rams Monday night at Scott City High School.

The Bulldogs lost to Notre Dame of St. Louis in the quarterfinals of the B.A. Sports Classic after making it to the finals two straight years.

"We did really well except for the game against Notre Dame-St. Louis," Notre Dame coach Tara Stroup said.

Notre Dame (11-2-1) came out strong in the first game against Scott City. After the Rams cut Notre Dame's early lead to 11-9, the Bulldogs stormed back for a 20-11 lead. With Notre Dame up 24-13, a Scott City service error gave the Bulldogs the first game.

The service error was one of six the Rams (5-6-2) would make on the night.

"They were just at crucial points we missed the serves," Scott City coach Laura Ort said. "One missed serve is too many."

Notre Dame jumped out in front again in the second game 9-1 before Scott City made another big charge, tying the score at 13.

"I'm really happy with our effort," Ort said. "They're scrappy girls who just don't quit."

With the score tied, Notre Dame senior Sommer McCauley went to work. McCauley put away one of her five kills in the match to give the Bulldogs a 14-13 lead, then proceeded to serve three straight aces to extend the lead to 17-13.

"Serving is so much more important with rally scoring," Stroup said.

Scott City strung together three straight points of its own to cut the lead to 17-16. Notre Dame then used a couple of kills from junior Laura Browne to push the lead back up to 21-15.

Scott City tied the score at 22 and again at 24 before another service error gave the Bulldogs a game point. McCauley ended things with a kill.

"We just made a lot of mistakes," McCauley said of the second game. "We just weren't on our toes."

The Rams, who are undersized with their tallest player standing 5-foot-6, had 40 digs in the match. Jessica Warren led the Rams with 10, Kacie Cartwright had six and Ashton Phillips had five.

"They were hitting everything back that got sent down," Stroup said of Scott City's defense.

"We just have to play hard on defense and hope they make mistakes," Ort added.

Browne and Emily Buehrle added five kills apiece for Notre Dame. Allison Essner had six assists and McCauley added seven. Amanda Essner had three kills.

Cartwright and Phillips led the Rams with three kills apiece.

Notre Dame's junior varsity team made short work of Scott City 25-11, 25-7.

jjoffray@semissourian.com

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