PERRYVILLE WINS OPENER IN DISTRICT TOURNAMENT

PERRYVILLE -- No. 5 seed Perryville, which captured the Class 4A district tournament title last year but went just 11-14-2 this regular season after dropping one classification to Class 3A, knocked off No. 4 seed Park Hills Central Monday in an opening-round match in the Class 3A, District 2 tournament.

Perryville's 15-11, 15-3 victory sets the stage for today's semifinals meeting with top seed Festus, which defeated the Lady Pirates 15-0, 15-1 in a match earlier this season.

"We're definitely the underdogs," said Perryville coach Tim Steffens. "Hopefully our girls will come out fired up and ready to play."

Perryville's Kristen Taylor and Amy Verseman contributed six and five kills, respectively. Shannon Dreyer posted 12 assists.

Class 1A, District 2

ZALMA -- The higher seeded teams prevailed in first-round matches.

No. 4 Richland edged No. 5 Advance 14-16, 15-6, 18-16; No. 3 Zalma topped No. 6 Risco 15-9, 15-6; and No. 2 Bell City blasted No. 7 Oran 15-0, 15-4.

In semifinals matches tonight, top-seeded Bernie will meet Richland at 5:30 and Zalma and Bell City will play at 6:45. The championship match is set for 8:30.