Pool play roundup: Leopold books spot in final early

The Leopold volleyball team won four of its six games in pool play Friday at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau to advance to the Class 1 state championship game.

"That was our goal," Leopold coach Sandy Davis said. "We've had our goals all season -- to have a good season, win districts, win sectionals and make it to the championship game. They've been playing well today and some times were better than others, but that's all a part of the experience."

The Wildcats (31-5-1) defeated Santa Fe 25-23, 27-25 and Osceola 25-13, 25-18 in their first two matches of the day.

The wins meant Leopold had secured its spot in the title game before the players even stepped onto the court for their final match of the day, thanks in large part to split between Santa Fe (30-4-3) and defending state champion Winona (29-9-1).

"We had our passes on every single time," Leopold setter Sydney Eeftink said. "We were running quick plays and I don't think the other teams were used to that. They were used to the high sets, and we were just running as quick as we could and it was working every single time."

Junior middle hitter Caitlin Petty hit .556 with 11 kills in the win against Santa Fe and .588 with 11 kills against Osceola.

"She's smart. She's just a smart hitter," Davis said of Petty. "She's a good all-around hitter. Passes are there, sets are there -- makes a hitter's job a lot easier. But she can adjust to anything, so she did well."

Junior middle hitter Bailee Cope hit .444 with 11 kills against Santa Fe and had seven kills against Osceola.

Junior outside hitter Ashlyn Bucher hit .545 with seven kills against Santa Fe and had five kills against Osceola.

Eeftink had 20 assists and 15 assists against Santa Fe and Osceola, respectively.

Leopold's two losses came at the hand of Winona 25-16, 25-17 in a preview of the title match.

The Wildcats struggled against Winona's 6-0 junior Rachel Holthaus and 6-foot-2 senior middle hitter Nola McAfee.

"Sometimes when you lose you've got to realize, 'Hey, we've got to play,'" Davis said. "They know what they're going to have to do tomorrow. That's just part of it and I mean, overall they played well, but we're just going to have to come in and play."

Holthaus and McAfee combined for all of Winona's 24 kills. Holthaus hit .640 and had 16 and McAfee hit .533 and had eight.

"I think it was that everybody wasn't used to people over 6-foot tall and our players got kind of timid and scared about it," Eeftink said.

Petty led the Wildcat's offense with 11 kills against Winona. Cope had six kills, Bucher had three and Eeftink had 15 assists.

"I'm really, really excited," Sydney Eeftink said. "We came here not knowing what to expect at all and now we're playing for a championship title. And after losing that last game we want revenge and don't want to lose again, so we'll do anything and everything we can to get this."