Valle ousts Bell City in Class 1 volleyball quarterfinals

STEELE, Mo. -- Valle Catholic beat the Bell City Cubs for a spot in the Class 1 volleyball final four.

While the opposite result would have been preferred, this was a positive in the eyes of Bell City coach Erin Hoffman.

"Valle Catholic is very good," Hoffman said. "I'm very proud of the way my girls stuck with them, and I kind of feel like we made them have to beat us. We gave them a good-fought game, but they are very good. I don't want to take anything away from them. They are probably the best Class 1 team I've seen around here in a long time."

That's high praise coming from Hoffman -- a state-championship winning coach with multiple final fours on her resume.

"No. 1, they are excellent passers," Hoffman said. "No. 2, they didn't let a ball hit the floor. They were an all-around great package. They had good size, they were athletic and they had excellent fundamentals."

All of those positives pushed Valle to a 25-19, 25-21 victory over Hoffman's Cubs in the state quarterfinals at South Pemiscot High School on Saturday.

"I think we had relaxed a little bit since we beat Leopold since we're kind of rivals," Bell City senior Alexandra Eakin said, referring to her team's defeat of Leopold in the sectional round just before it took the floor against Valle. "That was a really big thing for us, so I think we kind of relaxed and weren't as aggressive coming out."

Eakin said the Cubs tried to take the floor with the same attitude it had against the Wildcats.

"Same thing," Eakin said. "Go out, attack hard, see if we'd get them down, they'd act like Leopold. But they didn't and we never really got ahead, so it didn't work out."

Bell City kept pace with the Warriors early in Game 1, trailing just 10-8 before Valle went on a 9-2 run to put itself in prime position to take the game.

"They attacked us," Bell City's Jasmine Johnson said. "We can't get the ball up if they slam it down really fast. They're pretty good."

Johnson, Bell City's standout junior, finished Game 1 with seven kills compared to just one error, but Valle was able to slow her and the rest of the Bell City offense in Game 2. Johnson finished with five kills and five errors in Game 2.

The Cubs often were left scrambling on offense due to erratic second touches caused by a powerful and diverse Valle offense that continued to pelt the Cubs with attacks from six different hitters and all positions on the floor.

Valle forced Hoffman to take an early timeout in Game 2 after grabbing a 9-4 lead and eventually led 19-12 before Bell City made a final push to get back in the match.

Johnson's kill started a 6-0 run for Bell City that also included two kills by sophomore Cassidy Green.

"We were fighting for it," said Eakin, the only senior on Bell City's roster. "We were fighting for it."

Bell City pulled within a point at 19-18 but never pulled ahead.

"They're probably the best team we've played," Eakins said. "They're good. They're better than us, I know. They're better than Scott City and Notre Dame."

And Saturday, they were good enough to beat the Cubs.

"I don't want to make any excuses," Hoffman said. "They were just a very good team, and they hurt us all around."