SCAA: Woodland fights through injuries, adversity to top Bernie

ESSEX – The thing about the sport of volleyball that can be misleading is the final score by sets, not the team scores within each set. So when you learned that the Bernie High School volleyball squad had already swept its counterpart from Woodland High School in five sets through two matches this season, it would lead one to believe that the Mules are just far and away superior to the Cardinals.

That isn’t the case.

Woodland reversed course on Monday in the opening round of the Stoddard County Athletic Association Tournament at Richland High School in Essex by sweeping Bernie 3-0, but make no mistake, the match was highly competitive.

“I told the girls before (the match),” Cardinal coach Emily Johnson said, “that it is hard to beat a team three times.”

Especially if the two teams are very evenly matched.

The Cardinals held off the Mules by scores of 25-22, 25-22, 25-21 to move on with the privilege of now facing MSHSAA Class 1-power Advance (25-3-3), which swept the host Rebels 3-0. The semifinal match will be today at 7 p.m.

Bernie had gotten past Woodland 2-0 in the Dig For Life Tournament last month, before beating the Cardinals 3-0 in Bernie a couple of weeks later. However, Johnson hasn’t really had her full complement of players, due to injuries, all season, and that trend continued on Monday.

“We’ve had two starters out all year,” Johnson said.

Senior outside hitter London Cureton is still out with an injury while Woodland (12-16) finally had both liberos Brea Baker and Carrie Long available for the first time in a while.

The health problems continued for Woodland early in the third set, when junior Layla Wiseman went down with a bad knee injury, which was not the first time she suffered such an injury. Wiseman missed time earlier this year with a shoulder injury.

“I tell the girls that we have to keep playing,” Johnson said, “through all of this adversity, we have to keep playing.”

And the Cardinals did that, as Bernie, who lost sophomore Mikalyn Kirkwood to a knee injury, as well, on Monday, refused to yield quietly.

The opening set was tied 10 times, with the final knot at 22-22.

At that point, Long served three consecutive points to give her team a 1-0 set lead over Bernie since beating the Mules 3-0 two years ago.

“We talk about always playing at the next level,” Johnson said. “These girls play with so much heart and energy.”

The second set was just as tight as the first, as Woodland took an 11-7 advantage, which forced Bernie (16-9-1) to call a timeout.

The Cardinals still led 16-12 before the Mules fought back to win four of the next five points and trail just 17-16, which forced Johnson to call a timeout.

The Mule mojo continued, as they took an 18-17 lead, and the match was still tied at 22.

Senior Cardinal Maddie Allen closed the second set with three consecutive service points to put her team ahead 2-0.

“This game is about momentum,” Johnson said. “If you can just keep your energy up, play, and keep that momentum on our side, a lot of things can happen.”

The third set was tied at 12 when Woodland junior Mallary Banks ran off three straight service points for a 15-12 lead while freshman Makayla Alentha put Woodland up 18-13 with some good serves, as well.

Bernie battled back to trim their deficit to 23-21, but another Cardinal freshman, Addyson Massa, closed the match by serving her team to the win.

“I feel like our girls passed very well,” Johnson continued. “They covered the floor very well, and we had some big blocks.”

The Mules will face Richland (Essex) (1-19-1) in a consolation semifinal today at 4 p.m.

In the other opening-round matches, Dexter swept Puxico 3-0 and Bell City topped Bloomfield 3-1.

Puxico and Bloomfield will square off in a consolation semifinal today at 5:30 p.m.

Dexter and Bell City will play in a semifinal at 8:30 p.m.