McDonald County was within one point of winning the opening game of the championship match of Saturday's 19th Annual Lady Mustang Classic Volleyball Tournament, but instead the Branson Lady Pirates rallied with six consecutive points for a 26-24 win, then posted a convincing 25-16 win in the second game to claim the tournament title.
The Lady Mustangs jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first game and maintained a small advantage for the first half of the game before Branson took its first lead at 14-13. Branson led 17-15, but the Lady Mustangs answered to take a 20-19 edge. After Branson tied the game at 20-20, McDonald County scored four straight points to get within a point of taking the game, but couldn't convert the game winner.
District Tournament Schedule
The McDonald County Lady Mustang volleyball team opens Missouri Class 4 District 12 play at 7 p.m. on Oct. 17 versus Republic at Webb City High School.
The winner advances to the semifinals at 6 p.m. on Oct. 18 against the winner of Carthage and Neosho. The finals are set for 7 p.m. on Oct. 18.
Carl Junction is seeded first and received a first-round bye. Following the Lady Bulldogs in the seedings are Carthage, Republic, Webb City, Joplin, McDonald County and Neosho.
In the second game, Branson took an early 7-2 lead and was never threatened.
Branson advanced to the title match by beating Diamond in the semifinals while McDonald County rallied to take a three-game match against Wheaton.
Wheaton took the first game 25-21, holding on after building a 20-9 lead. Alex Gross got McDonald County back into the game with seven consecutive service points to help McDonald County close to 21-18. But Wheaton scored the next three points to get a point away from taking the game. Bailey Rickett stuffed a Wheaton spike and registered a kill for two Lady Mustang points before the Lady Bulldogs converted the game winner.
McDonald County dominated the early portion of the second game, building a 10-1 lead, and stretching the margin to 18-5, before Wheaton scored eight straight points to close to 18-13. McDonald County answered by taking the seven out of the last 10 points of the game for a 25-16 win.
In the third and deciding game, the Lady Mustangs stretched an early 3-2 lead to a 13-4 advantage on the way to an easy 25-11 win.
McDonald County opened bracket play with a 25-10, 25-7 win over Gentry, keyed by eight kills from Lindsey Limore and 14 service points by Destiny Arnall.
McDonald County swept its six games in pool play to earn the top seed in the Black Pool. The Lady Mustangs opened the tournament with a 25-11, 25-19 win over Pea Ridge. Hollie Garvin had 12 service points and Riley Rickman eight to lead McDonald County.
The Lady Mustangs followed up with a 25-13, 25-25-20 win over Diamond. Gross and Limore had seven kills and Lauren Goff led McDonald County with seven, service points and seven digs.
McDonald County completed an undefeated pool run with a 25-23, 25-20 win over Wheaton behind nine kills from Limore and eight from Rickett.
McDonald County improves to 15-13 overall, 5-0 in the Big 8 Conference, heading into a pair of key Big 8 matchups this week. The Lady Mustangs were at East Newton on Tuesday before closing out the regular season at Aurora on Oct. 13 in what could possibly be for the conference title.
McDonald County begins district play on Monday, Oct. 17 against Republic. Game time is 7 p.m.
Seneca
McDonald County avenged a loss earlier this season to Seneca with a 25-16, 25-16 win over the Lady Indians on Senior Night held Oct. 4 at MCHS.
The teams traded points through the first half of the first game before McDonald County scored 13 out of the final 16 points, including streaks of five and four consecutive points, to claim a 25-16 win.
In the second game, the lady Mustangs scored the first four points, but Seneca scored the next four to forge a tie. Seneca then took a 7-6 lead, but the Lady Mustangs won nine of the next 11 points for a 15-9 lead on the way to building a 20-12 advantage. Seneca closed the gap to 21-16 before McDonald County scored the final four points of the match.
McDonald County honored six seniors between the junior varsity and varsity matches. Closing out their high school careers this season are Lindsey Limore, Bailey Rickett, Alex Gross, Lauren Goff, Destiny Arnall and Riley Rickman.
"It's been a great honor to coach this group of seniors," said coach Kacha Kuhn. "They have been completely committed to our program and have represented McDonald County with integrity both on and off the court. These young ladies work hard both in and out of season. They have competed at club level and spent their summers in the weight room and traveling to camps with our program. I am very thankful for their leadership, and they will leave a legacy for those to come. I am also thankful for their families for supporting the program over the past four seasons. I am sad to see them leave but very excited to see where they will go. They are smart, talented young women who have great things ahead of them."
Gross had seven kills, 10 service points and five digs and Rickett had eight kills and eight digs to lead the Lady Mustangs past Seneca. Arnall added 20 assists, seven service points and four digs while Rickman had four service points and four digs in her first game back from an ankle injury. Limore chipped in with six kills and Goff had 11 digs and four service points.
Seneca edged McDonald County in the junior varsity match, taking a 25-19, 25-27, 28-26 victory while the freshmen teams split games, with McDonald County winning the first 25-20 and Seneca taking the second 26-24.
Monett
McDonald County remained unbeaten in the Big 8 Conference with a 25-8, 25-16 win over Monett on Oct. 6 at Monett High School.
Gross had six kills and Rickett and Arnall had four each to lead McDonald County. Arnall added 10 service points, 10 digs and nine assists while Goff had 11 digs and eight service points and Raye Pearcy had four service points and four digs.
McDonald County added a 25-20, 25-19 win in the junior varsity match and a 25-17, 25-11 win in the freshman match.
Sports on 10/13/2016