Jerry Jarrell photo - Dexter's Cathryn Heil is shown backing an over-the-back pass during the Lady Bearcats' three-game win over Bernie in the varsity bracket of the SCAA tournament Thursday at Dexter High School. Dexter, the No. 2 seed, will play top-seed Bell City for the title Saturday.

The seedings held true after semifinal action at the SCAA volleyball tournament Thursday at Dexter High School.

The top two teams in both the varsity and junior varsity brackets fought off stiff challenges, but managed to advance to Saturday's championship games.

The varsity side proved to be the most competitive as No. 1 Bell City beat back No. 4 Puxico, 25-23, 25-21, while No. 2 Dexter needed three games to subdue Bernie, 22-25, 25-22, 25-15.

In junior varsity action, No. 1 Bloomfield cruised past No. 4 Puxico, 25-18, 25-9, while No. 2 Dexter struggled early, but had little trouble with No. 6 Advance, 25-16, 25-12.

Championship Saturday will get underway at 2 p. m. with consolation games between Puxico and Advance on the jayvee side and Puxico and Bernie on the varsity. The jayvee title game between Bloomfield and Dexter is slated for 4 p.m. with the varsity final between Bell City and Dexter to follow at approximately 5 o'clock.

Bell City showed the first signs of vulnerability in its match with Puxico, but the defending tournament champs are still the team to beat. The Lady Cubs had little trouble with Dexter at home during a regular season match and appear poised to back it back-to-back tournament titles.

The feature game of the night was the Dexter-Bernie matchup, as a large crowd supporting both teams kept the intensity high. A late surge in Game 1 that saw the Lady Mules turn a 19-18 lead into a 25-22 victory, Bernie appeared ready to pull off the upset.

"We made a few mistakes in the second game that probably cost us," Bernie coach Jeff Rodgers said. "The third set Dexter really turned up their defense. We hit some really hard shots that they got back. We didn't get enough kills from our hitters to finish.

"Dexter is a very good team and have some very good athletes, so we have to play pretty much mistake free to beat them and we did for much of the match," Rodgers continued. "Our seniors we're really hurting after the game, that was their last chance at Dexter that they'll ever get. They've had such a rivalry with Dexter over the last 6 years. I bet the wins and losses are about even. I'm going to miss those games. But, I'm proud of the good effort my team gave tonight. This has re-energized me and I hope it does the girls. We better be up for Puxico Saturday, they gave Bell City all they wanted tonight."

Game 2 was another tightly contest battle, but this time is was Dexter that was able to fight back the nerves and deliver the victory on a service winning by Jessica Satterfield to set up a deciding third game.

It looked like anther nail bitter was developing with the scored tied at 13-all, but the Lady 'Cats managed to rally behind the strong hitting of Cathryn Heil, a momentum-turning save by Satterfield and a game-ending block by Abbie Warren to advance to the title game against Bell City Saturday. Dexter also got a solid effort in the pivotal Game 3 from Brittany Bedford, McKenzie Mitchell, Elisha Flanigan and Kayla Joyner.

"We figured Bernie would come here tonight (Thursday) wanting revenge from our last match-up," Dexter coach Kris Vandeven said. "They were definitely a scrappy bunch tonight. We knew we would have to do a good job covering our hitters, due to Kristen Eaves' tough blocking.

"We still need to work on our serving game," Vandeven continued. "We always seem to miss serves at the times when we need to keep our momentum up the most. It was an intense game tonight, as both teams had big crowds in attendance. Overall, I am pleased with the girls' performance tonight. We are looking to redeem ourselves against Bell City on Saturday."

Warren finished with 13 kills and eight blocks, while Heil added 11 kills and 11 digs. Satterfield was charted with eight kills, along with 10 digs and 13 assists. Bedford added 11 digs to the winning effort, while Flanigan had eight digs and five blocks. Joyner also had 11 digs.

Bernie Kristian Eaves was dominated at the net for Bernie, forcing the Lady Bearcats hitter to work around her presence at the net. Dexter began to find points with angle hits to avoid the blocking of Bernie's force at the net.

"This was a great match," Rodgers commented. "The fans were really into it and both teams played hard. We played really well that first set. Kristin (Eaves) just dominated the first set with 10 blocks and several kills. Bailey Martin also had some big blocks (12 blocks, including 5 solo). We did a lot of things right, especially serving (62 for 64, 97%). That's the best we've done all year and the main reason we played that well."

Eaves finished with 10 kills and 18 blocks (5 solo), while Krista Armbruster had five kills. RAchel Palmer led the Lady Mules with 24 digs, followed by Sarah Beason with 17. Sami Palmer was charted with 20 assists.

Bloomfield and Dexter both looked impressive in the jayvee bracket with an easy wins. Bloomfield owns a win over Dexter already this season, so the Lady 'Cats should have plenty on incentive to make it an exciting final.

"I'm are proud of both teams for making it to the finals of the county tournament this year," Dexter's Vandeven said. "Both teams have worked very hard this season and deserve a shot at a championship."