Jerry Jarrell photo Dexter's Jessica Satterfield (No. 7) attacks the net during the Class 3, District 1 championship game Tuesday against Notre Dame at Notre Dame Regional High School. The Lady Bearcats came up short in their bid to defeat the Lady Bulldogs, 25-18, 25-22.

CAPE GIRARDEAU -- Dexter displayed plenty of heart, but not enough game as the Notre Dame Lady Bulldogs defeated the Lady Bearcats, 25-18, 25-22, in the Class 3, District 1 Championship game Tuesday at Notre Dame Regional High School in Cape Girardeau.

It was the third straight district title for the Lady Bulldogs who had only last week rolled to an easy win over Dexter in its last regular season match. Notre Dame will take on Lutheran South at De Soto High School Saturday, a team that eliminated the Lady Bulldogs in last year's sectional and in the quarterfinals in 2006.

Dexter fell behind in both championship games, but came up short with late comeback rallies as the Lady Bulldogs answered every time the Lady 'Cats made a push.

Kayla Joyner (No 20, above) works at the net during Tuesday's loss to Notre Dame Regional High School in the championship game of the Class 3, District 1 tournament. It was the last game for three Dexter seniors Heil and Joyner, and Jessica Satterfield,

"Tonight's (Tuesday's) loss to Notre Dame was a disappointing ending to a good season," Dexter coach Kris Vandeven commented after the game. "These girls have worked hard all year and have been successful, but we just couldn't end it with a district title.

"Our goal for tonight was to play Notre Dame a better game than what we showed them in regular season," Vandeven added, referring to a 25-13, 25-16 loss to Notre Dame to end the regular season. " The girls came out strong and put up a fight, but we just came up a little short. We wish Notre Dame luck as they move on to sectionals."

While Dexter proved to be scrappy, the Lady Bearcats couldn't overcome the consistent play of Notre Dame in the end. Dexter never led in Game 1, and fell behind 20-12, before strong net play by Cathryn Heil helped trim the deficit to 16-20, but Notre Dame finished on a 5-2 run to seal the win.

Jerry Jarrell photo Dexter suffered an emotional, 25-18, 25-22, loss to the Notre Dame Lady Bulldogs Tuesday in the Class 3, District 1 title game at Notre Dame Regional High School. Teammates Abbie Warren (No. 8) and Elisha Flanigan console each other moments after the game.

Game 2 also saw Dexter fall behind 16-9 before the Lady 'Cats dug in their claws and used solid kills by Jessica Satterfield and Abbie Warren to ignite runs of 6-1 to cut the lead to 17-15 and later 20-18 before the Lady Bulldogs found a way to start trading points and earn the 3-point win.

Heil and Satterfield both finished with seven kills, while Warren added six put downs and six blocks. Heil also had 10 digs and eight assists, while Satterfield charted four blocks and seven assists.

Brittany Bedford led Dexter with 15 digs, while Elisha Flanigan charted one kill, two aces and four digs, along with Kayla Joyner's three digs and one assist. McKenzie Mitchell rounded out Dexter efforts with one block and three assists.

Both teams had won semifinal matches earlier before the tournament's top two seeds squared off to see who would advance to sectional play. Top seed Dexter defeated Fredericktown, 25-12, 25-20, while No. 2 Notre Dame romped over No. 3 Kennett, 25-7, 25-8.

Dexter finishes the season with a 22-7-3 record, 6-1 in SCAA play, while Notre Dame enters the playoffs with a 27-5-2 season slate.