Title up for grabs at B.A. Sports classic

~ The last three champions are not in the field for this year's volleyball tournament.

The B.A. Sports Volleyball Classic title appears up for grabs this year with the past three champions all out of the event.

The tournament begins Friday at Notre Dame Regional High School and the Student Recreation Center on the campus of Southeast Missouri State.

Defending champion Farmington, 2004 winner Lindbergh and 2003 winner St. Louis Notre Dame are not in the 40-team field. Bell City is the top returning finisher, having been ousted by Farmington in the semifinals last season.

The field contains seven district winners from last year, including defending Class 1 state champion New Haven and Class 1 third-place finisher Bell City. St. Vincent, Scott City and Leopold are the other defending area district winners in the field.

St. Elizabeth and Seckman represent the only St. Louis-area squads in the field this year.

While most squads have just a handful of games under their belts, St. Vincent will come into the tournament with plenty of momentum following a second straight Notre Dame Volleyballfest title. The Squaws (8-0) swept host Notre Dame for the title.

Scott City is heading into the tournament with a head of steam after routing Notre Dame in straight sets on Wednesday. The Rams are 3-0.

"I'm excited going into the Classic with a 3-0 record off a win like this," Scott City coach Carl Ritter Jr. said. "This is a big boost for us."

Leopold, which fell to Bell City in the Class 1 quarterfinals last year, won the Woodland Volleyball Tournament to open its season, and is currently 4-0.

The finals will be played Saturday evening.

ND softball at IWA

Notre Dame will enter the Incarnate Word Academy softball tournament this weekend as defending champions.

The Bulldogs (9-0) destroyed the field last year, defeating host Incarnate Word 12-4 in the finals following an 11-0 semifinal win. Beth Schnurbusch won all four games in the tournament last year, and Kristain Burger was 11-for-11 on the final day with three home runs. Burger hit two home runs in a single inning in the semifinal win.

This season the Bulldogs have been cruising through the competition, including a tournament win at the Notre Dame Softballfest in which Notre Dame outscored its opponents 45-4. The only four runs Notre Dame surrendered were to its own junior varsity team in the finals.

The Incarnate tournament will field 24 teams this year. There will be eight pools of three teams, with the top teams advancing to a single-elimination eight-team bracket.

"It's kind of for us to see where we're at," Notre Dame coach Jeff Graviett said of the tournament.

Notre Dame opens with Cor Jesu and also has Kansas City Notre Dame de Sion's junior varsity in its pool. Timberland, which lost to Notre Dame in the Class 3 semifinal last year, is in the field, along with Kelly.

Burger commits to SLU

Notre Dame softball standout Kristain Burger has commited to St. Louis University, according to Bulldogs coach Jeff Graviett.

Burger hit .447 with 15 doubles, five home runs, 41 RBIs last season, all school records. The senior first baseman has been all-state each of the past two seasons.

Soccer teams hit road

The Saxony Lutheran boys soccer team will open its inaugural season Friday at the Cavalier Soccer Classic in Joplin, Mo.

The eight-team tournament will be played at College Heights High School and Thomas Jefferson High School.

The Crusaders will open with Webb City on Friday. Other teams include College Heights, Neosho's junior varsity, Carl Junction, Riverton, Thomas Jefferson and Aurora. The finals will be played Saturday.

Jackson, coming off a runner-up finish at the Notre Dame Soccerfest, will play in the Rolla Tournament this weekend.

The Indians (2-1) will play Dixon on Friday, then face host Rolla and West Plains on Saturday.

Central will also head out of town for a weekend tournament, traveling to the Francis Howell Tournament. The Tigers, defending champions at the Francis Howell Tournament, are off to a slow start at 1-3 after losing 15 seniors from last year's quarterfinal squad.