Top seeds look for better fate in MVC tournament

~ Last year Meadow Heights and Saxony failed to reach the championship game.

After a tournament full of upsets last year, the top seeds will try to make their way to the championship this time around at the Mississippi Valley Conference Tournament, which begins Monday at Chaffee.

For the second straight season, Meadow Heights will have the top seed in the seven-team tournament, while Saxony Lutheran will have the second seed.

Saxony Lutheran will take on defending champion Marquand in the opening round at 7 p.m. on Monday. Third-seeded Leopold will play sixth-seeded Oak Ridge at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in opening-round action, followed by fourth-seeded Chaffee against fifth-seeded Zalma at 8:30 p.m.

The finals are 9 p.m. on Feb. 3.

Meadow Heights (9-5) went 0-2 last year as the top seed in the tournament. Saxony Lutheran also fell in the semifinal round before bouncing back to beat Meadow Heights in the third-place game.

Marquand defeated Oak Ridge in last year's championship.

The Crusaders (13-4) have started strong this season, taking home the Chester Invitational title over Class 4 Perryville. Saxony Lutheran also owns a win over Class 4 Ste. Genevieve.

All-region volleyball

Bell City's volleyball team made its second state final four in three years this past season and was rewarded with four players on the recently released Missouri High School Volleyball Coaches Association all-region list.

Sophomores Jenny Lathum, Jessica Abner and Rachel Spears, along with freshman Codie Lancaster, were named all-region from the fourth-place Cubs. Four other area Class 1 players were recognized, including Stephania Jordan and Angela Broshuis of Advance, Jenny Vandeven of Leopold and Sheila Fish of Zalma.

In Class 2, district-winner Scott City was represented by senior Lindsey Amick and junior Kacie Ritter, and senior Kelsey Kutz made the all-region team from district-winner St. Vincent.

Jackson senior Jodie Gipson and junior Amanda Peiffer made all-region in Class 4.

Mayor's Cup

While it may not have the same recognition as the Central-Jackson rivalry, or even that of Central and Notre Dame, Perryville and St. Vincent have one of the top rivalries in the area.

The two schools will play for the annual Mayor's Cup on Saturday at the Perry Park Center. The day will begin with a girls junior varsity game at 3 p.m., followed by the boys JV game. The girls varsity will start at 6, with the boys varsity rounding out the day.

Perryville swept the event last year, winning the girls game 49-38 and the boys game 54-40.