Notre Dame volleyball wins back-to-back Dig For Life titles

Notre Dame volleyball coach Tara Stroup looked around the court following her team's second consecutive Saint Francis Medical Center Dig For Life Challenge championship on Saturday and saw things a little different than she might have on another day.

She saw her two assistant coaches and thought back to their days playing on one of her teams, she saw another former player snapping a picture of her sister, who was wearing a new championship medal around her neck, and she saw parents she'll stay friends with long after the season ends.

"This is going into my 12th year, so beginning of my 12th year. We spend a lot of time, all the coaches I'm sure, especially the ones that have been doing it a long time," said Stroup, who collected her 300th victory against Hazelwood West earlier on Saturday. "You spend a lot of time in the summer time, and I have two boys. It's a lot of time I put in away from them and stuff like that during volleyball season. It's nice to reach that milestone."

She also saw a lot of players celebrating the championship for the first time after their 26-28, 25-20, 25-18 victory over Dexter at the Show Me Center.

"Last year we had six seniors, including my senior that set the school record [for assists] and two girls that went on to play college volleyball," Strop said. "Not very many of these played last year. Madeline [Rosenquist] and Karsen [Powers] were key players last year on defense and then Kaitlin Welter and Taylor Feeney played a little bit as a fill in when some people got hurt. They'd sub in, but starter wise we lost everybody basically."

Notre Dame's roster has 10 seniors and two juniors on it this season, many of whom had to wait until this season for an opportunity to play at the varsity level. Some even played on the JV team during their junior season while waiting for their turn.

Notre Dame’s Annie Siebert spikes against Dexter’s Shyann Jines in the third set of the championship match in the Dig for Life Challenge tournament Saturday at the Show Me Center. (Fred Lynch)

"I think that's one thing that keeps us really enthusiastic each year because their senior year is so important to them because they've been waiting that whole time to get up there," Stroup said. "A lot of them don't get to play a whole lot before they're seniors. We've only got two juniors on the roster this year, so a lot of these girls, it's like this is their time to shine because they've been waiting so long."

The Bulldogs dictated play against Dexter at the outset and led throughout most of the first set as they built up a 21-12 lead. Dexter scored three points in a row with the help of two Notre Dame errors before Stroup called a timeout.

Dexter junior Jessica Lindsey took over after the break, recording six kills and a block over the course of 13 points to help the Bearcats gain a 25-24 advantage. Dexter closed the set out with an ace five points later.

Stroup chided her players for becoming passive after they built a big lead.

Notre Dame's Annie Siebert spikes against Dexter's Shyann Jines in the third set of the championship match in the Dig for Life Challenge tournament Saturday, Sept. 14, 2013 at the Show Me Center. (Fred Lynch)

"I came over here and I just said, 'You had it, and you gave it away. You gave it away. You had an eight-point lead, and you didn't play aggressive enough,'" Stroup said. "Nothing aggravates me worse than when we have struggled to get a pass and we get a good pass -- we get a good pass, good set and someone tips the ball, someone that can hit the ball well.

"If it's somebody that's off a little bit, but if it's one of our top kill-getters and then they tip the ball when we work so hard to get it to them. You've got to be aggressive. You've got to finish."

Notre Dame fell behind early in set two, but the Bulldogs used an 8-0 run to take a 12-7 lead and never trailed again. Feeney had four kills during the run.

"To be a part of it last year and this year is just amazing," Feeney said of the back-to-back titles. "There were 48 teams, and we came out on top, so it was a great feeling."

The Bulldogs improved to 13-1-1 on the season.

"They fight," Stroup said, describing her team. "They do. They fight. Farmington we went three games with, Dexter we went three game with in the other tournament and this one. We've been behind or lost the first game every time, and we've come back and won.

"I've had teams in the past that if they lost that first game it was over. They could not come back and win two more after losing the first, so they've worked hard and they fight. They haven't quit on each other yet, which is good."

Woodland captures silver bracket championship

The Woodland volleyball team claimed the silver bracket championship at the Saint Francis Medical Center Dig For Life Challenge on Saturday at the Show Me Center with a 25-21, 25-19 win over Gideon. The silver bracket was composed of teams that finished second in their respective pools.

Josie Long led the Cardinals with nine kills, five blocks and three digs against Gideon while Rachel Poole had 12 assists, six blocks and five kills.

Woodland improved to 11-4-1 on the season.

Leopold won the gold bracket consolation championship with a 28-26, 25-12 victory over New Haven. The gold bracket was made up of teams that finished first in their pools.

Central won the bronze bracket, which featured teams that finished third in pool play, with a 25-20, 28-26 victory over Campbell.

Jackson finished pool play Saturday by splitting with Oran 21-25, 25-15.

The Indians (3-7-3) then lost to Dexter 25-18, 25-17 in the first round of gold bracket play and were eliminated by Lesterville 25-21, 25-21.

Hailey Mouser had four kills, eight digs and two blocks against Oran. Autumn Reid had four kills, Kayla Thurman four aces and Maci McCuan seven assists.

Mouser had 10 kills and two aces against Dexter, while McKinzie Scott recorded 12 assists.

Mouser recorded eight kills against Lesterville. McCuan had nine assists and Reid three aces.