REBELS SAVOR CLASSIC TITLE

While Park Hills Central's Lady Rebels skipped around the court screaming and hugging, Cindi Martin held back tears.

No, Martin wasn't on the losing end of Central's first SEMO Classic title Saturday night at Southeast Missouri State University's Rec Center. She is the Lady Rebels' veteran volleyball coach, and she was understandably emotional.

The tournament, which ended in a 15-10, 15-13 win over defending Class 3A state champion St. Francis Borgia of Washington, Mo., included a number of firsts for Central.

Besides being Central's first tournament championship, which had been monopolized by Bernie the last four years, it was the first time Central had ever advanced past the second round of the tournament, which this year featured three defending state champions (1A champion Bell City, 2A winner Bernie and Borgia, which made its first Classic appearance).

In short, it was "the top, (the biggest win) in our life, in 19 years," said Martin, whose team improved to 15-1.

Borgia (15-2) didn't drop a game until the finals. It beat Notre Dame 15-5, 15-3 in the first round, handed Leopold its first loss this year 15-1, 15-3 in the quarterfinals and topped Clearwater, which beat Bernie, 15-5, 15-8 in the semifinals.

In contrast, Central had two tough matches.

After breezing past Zalma 15-1, 15-1 in the first round, the Lady Rebels beat Farmington 15-11, 15-11 in the quarterfinals before giving Bell City its first loss this season 8-15, 15-9, 15-12.

Said Amanda Hampton, Central's excellent senior who led the team with 20 kills in the title match despite spotting several inches to Borgia's tall front line: "I'm excited; it was the biggest win, by far."

And how exactly did Hampton counter Borgia's height?

"Height doesn't matter," she said. "It's the will inside. That's what matters."

Borgia coach Mike Tyree said his team didn't hit the ball well while Central played excellent defense.

"(Central) played tremendous defense; the better team won today," he said.

After Borgia quickly led 2-0 in the first game and later came back to tie it at 6-6, Central scored nine of the next 13 points and won. Six of those nine points were on kills by Hampton.

In the second game, Central led 4-0 early, but Borgia awoke and took a 7-6 lead on a kill by Julie Brinker. The Lady Knights never led again, although they tied the match at 11-11 and 12-12. Central won on a kill by Hampton, a Borgia error and a kill by Kristel Petty.

Emily Clements distributed 31 assists for Central and Jenny Priest and Lindsey Burgess both totaled six kills.

Cape Girardeau Central didn't advance out of the 30-team pool play. Jackson advanced, but lost to Leopold 10-15, 15-10, 9-15 in the first round of the 16-team tournament.