Notre Dame volleyball captures fifth straight district champion

The Notre Dame volleyball team won its fifth consecutive district championship Tuesday night, beating host and No. 2 seed Dexter 25-21, 23-25, 25-19 in the Class 3 District 1 tournament final.

The top-seeded Bulldogs (29-4-3) advance to Saturday's four-team sectional round at Park Hills, Mo.

Notre Dame finished fourth in last year's state tournament.

"They were really scrappy. They played us good, but the girls came through," Notre Dame coach Tara Stroup said.

Laura Browne led the Bulldogs with 15 kills, while Amanda Essner had 10 kills and seven blocks. Allison Essner had 18 assists, Amber Karnes contributed 13 assists and Rachel Weidenbenner added seven blocks.

Earlier in the evening, Notre Dame knocked off fourth-seeded Kennett 25-15, 29-27 in the semifinal round.

Amanda Essner had nine kills and Browne added seven. Leaders in assists were Karnes with 16 and Allison Essner with 11.

Class 2 District 2

Second-seeded Scott City upset top-seeded Bloomfield 25-16, 25-23 to capture the title at Bloomfield and advance to Saturday's sectional, also at Bloomfield.

Kacie Cartwright led the Rams (26-9) with 13 kills and 17 digs.

Lindsey Amick added 20 assists and six digs; Jenny Glency had four kills and six digs; Abbie Cook had two kills and three aces; and Ashton Phillips added five digs.

"We played a good game all the way around, and it was a big win," said Scott City coach Laura Ort, whose squad lost to Puxico in straight sets two weeks ago. "We passed the ball as well as we've passed all year, and Kacie had a great hitting game."

Class 2 District 3

St. Vincent could not pull the upset and lost to top seed Bismarck 25-14, 26-24 in the final at Arcadia Valley.

St. Vincent, the No. 2 seed, led 23-17 in the second game but could not hold off Bismarck.

Sierra Paulus had 12 kills for St. Vincent.

Earlier, St. Vincent beat No. 3 Arcadia Valley 25-18, 25-19 in the semifinal round. Bismarck knocked off No. 4 Woodland 23-25, 25-8, 25-11.

Class 1 District 3

Leopold captured its third straight district title, as the top-seeded Wildcats beat second-seeded Zalma 26-24, 25-14.

Leopold (22-6) moves on to Saturday's sectional at Advance.

In the semifinals earlier in the evening, Leopold beat Oak Ridge 25-21, 25-14 and Zalma defeated Meadow Heights 25-19, 25-16.

Class 4 District 1

Jackson fell to Poplar Bluff in three sets in the semifinal round of the district tournament.

Poplar Bluff, the tournament host, fell to Farmington in two sets in the championship.

BOYS SOCCER Poplar Bluff 3, Notre Dame 1

Frankie Ellis scored Notre Dame's only goal, with an assist from Chris Meyer, as the Bulldogs (10-12) lost on the road.

JV -- Notre Dame won 3-1. Goals: Jack Wedemier (2), Ty Williams.

OTHER SPORTS

The Central girls junior high basketball team lost to Dexter 34-25 at the Dexter Tournament. Breia Twiggs had 10 points to lead Central.

-- From staff reports