Sikeston volleyball upsets Hillsboro in district tourney

Sikeston's Audra Wolley (9), and Bearneatress Hunt (10) celebrate their win.

POPLAR BLUFF -- No. 5-seed Sikeston eliminated No. 4 Hillsboro in the first round of the Class 4, District 1 volleyball tournament on Monday.

Sikeston (15-13) advanced with a 25-18, 25-15 win over the Lady Hawks.

"Our season's alive for another night," said Sikeston coach Steve Beydler. "I'm proud of the way the girls played tonight. We played very good defense and kept the ball alive."

The Lady Bulldogs' service game was paced by Audra Wooley, who went 10-for-10 with three aces. Other service leaders were Kiarra Morris (9-11), Rachel Beydler (7-9, 1 ace), Kelsey Lawrence (5-5, 3 aces) and Berneatress Hunt (5-7).

Hunt topped the block statistic with five and shared the lead in kills with Martika Davis at five apiece. Emily Taylor contributed three kills and Davis had two blocks.

Setter Rachel Beydler had a team-high 12 assists, while Khassie Davis was the digs leader with 12. Hunt added 10 digs.

"I can't say enough about the way some of these players have come together and stepped up to fill in some of the gaps we've had forced on us the last week and a half," said Steve Beydler, of his squad which recently has undergone player losses to injury and suspensions.

Sikeston faces a tough challenge tonight at 6 p.m. against defending district champion and current top seed Farmington.