Dexter serves its way to win over Sikeston

Jerry Jarrell photo - Dexter's Abbie Warren (No. 8) wins this battle at the net against Sikeston during the Lady Bearcats' 25-7, 25-10 win at home Thursday night. Trying to avoid a collision with Warren is Jessica Satterfield (No. 7).

Dexter's Lady Bearcats had little trouble capturing their third-straight win at home Thursday, defeating the Sikeston Lady Bulldogs, 25-14, 25-9.

Dexter took control of both games early, jumping out to a 15-6 lead in the first game, and a 18-7 advantage in the second, to coast home with two easy wins to improve its season record to 15-5-3, 5-1 in SCAA conference play.

The jayvee Lady Bearcats looked equally impressive in the opener, taking a 25-12, 25-12 decision. The win improved the jayvee's record to 10-1, 4-1.

"I am proud of the girls for working hard tonight (Thursday)," Dexter coach Kris Vandeven stated. "It's good to see the girls using skills that we've been working on in practice."

Dexter's performance at the service line dominated the game, as the Sikeston squad couldn't handle many of the attempts leading to quick, easy points for the Lady 'Cats.. Dexter had numerous service-winners while charting 16 aces.

Abbie Warren led the service barrage with five aces, while Elisha Flanigan knocked down four, Cathryn Heil and Kayla Joyner each had three and McKenzie Mitchell dropped in two.

Jessica Satterfield, Warren and Heil each recorded five kills in the win. Heil also added nine assists.

Dexter will next be in action Saturday at the Scott City I-55 Classic. Any shot at a tournament titlewill probably have to go through the Scott City team, which has handed Dexter two of its five losses.

Bernie sweeps Zalma

Bernie needed three games to defeat Zalma and make it a sweep on the night.

Bernie took the first game, 25-20, then dropped the second, 21-25, to set up the third game which the Lady Mules were able to pull out, 25-21.

Kristin Eaves and Bailey Martin both had big games for Bernie's varsity squad. Eaves had 14 kills and 14 blocks (11 solo), while Martin had seven kills and 17 blocks (9 solo).

Sarah Deason and Sami Palmer both charted 21 digs, while Palmer had a season-high 34 assists.

"We did not play bad except for missing way too many serves," Bernie coach Jeff Rodgers stated. " We hit the ball well (40 kills) and Zalma played very good defense and dug a lot of hard shots. Our libero (Sarah Deason) played a very strong game. I think she's one of the better liberos around. But blocking won this game for us. Kristin (Eaves) and Bailey (Martin) did an outstanding job blocking 32 balls including 20 solo blocks with zero errors. That was the difference."

Bernie took the jayvee contest, 25-8, 25-13.

Bernie's varsity team now stands at 11-10-1, while the junior varsity unit supports a 9-5-1 season slate.

Bernie will be in action again tonight when the Lady Mules will host Gideon. Jayvee play is scheduled to start at 6 p. m. with varsity action to follow.