Jerry Jarrell photos Dexter's Jessica Satterfield (No. 7, above) and Bloomfield's Jessica White (No. 23, below) battle at the net during SCAA action Monday at Dexter High School. Dexter held off a Game 2 push by Bloomfield to win the match, 25-18, 28-26. Defending in the two photos are Taylor Pulley (No. 8, above) and McKenzie Mitchell (No. 5, below).

Dexter came out strong in front of the home crowd in the first game, quickly building a 9-point lead (15-6) then increasing the advantage to 21-11 before Bloomfield finished on a 7-4 run. Bloomfield scored the first point on the second game, but Dexter but together an early 7-0 run to take command of the game, 7-1. Bloomfield began to chip away at the Dexter advantage, and with the Lady 'Cats sitting on game point at 24-20, Bloomfield reeled off the next four points with Jessica White at the service line to tie the game at 24-all, the last point coming on a sliced kill by Erica Wyatt.

Cathryn Heil stopped the bleeding for Dexter with a soft, angled kill, but Bloomfield responded to tie the game at 25-all.

Bloomfield took the lead (26-25) before a Lady Wildcats' service error tied the game and allowed Heil to deliver a service winner and then set up Jessica Satterfield for the game winning kill on the next point with another strong service effort.

"I'm proud of the way that the girls fought it out until the end and didn't give up," Dexter coach Kris Vandeven stated. "Bloomfield turned it on in the end, but our girls hung in and finished strong. We've been trying to focus on keeping the momentum on our side, and the girls did a nice job of that tonight (Monday)."

Dexter improved to 7-2-1 overall and 2-0 in SCAA play, while Bloomfield slipped to a 4-5, 0-1 season slate.

"For some reason we get nervous when we play Dexter," Bloomfield coach Starla Pulley said after the game. "We changed a few things for this game and we didn't really figure in out until the second game and we did ,much better.

"Dexter is a strong team," Pulley added. "They are very aggressive hitting and they go after every ball."

Heil and Satterfield led the Lady Bearcats in kills with seven and eight, respectively. Heil also finished with seven assists while Satterfield had five.

Abbie Warren, who returned to the lineup this weekend after nursing a sprained ankle, delivered a team-high six blocks. Brittany Bedford was charted with a team-high 11 digs, followed by Elisha Flanigan and Kayla Joyner in that category with five each.

Dexter will next be in action tonight when they travel to Scott City for a rematch with the Lady Rams, who rolled over Dexter in the SEMO Volleyball Tournament this past weekend, 25-16, 25-9.

Dexter compiled a 2-2-1 record at the SEMO tournament.

"Overall I was pleased with the girls' performance this weekend," Vandeven noted. "There were several good teams in the tournament and we had to face some tough competition.

"We were glad to have the whole team back together finally," she added, referring to the return of Warren to the lineup,"but there are definitely some kinks that need to be worked out. We have good talent as a team, but we need to learn how to keep the momentum up on our side. We lost our focus against Scott City and could never get it back. Hopefully we can learn from it and move on."

In jayvee action, Dexter lost its first game of the year to the young Lady Wildcats, 25-12, 25-12. The Lady Bearcats' jayvee team now stands at 4-1, 1-1, while Bloomfield improved to 9-0-1, 1-0.