Portageville slips past SHS

Sikeston's Madeline Davis returns a Portageville serve Tuesday evening at the Sikeston Field House. Looking on is Casey Palmer, left, and Tyanne Townsend, right. (Photos by Josh Mills, Staff)

SIKESTON -- The Portageville Lady Bulldogs volleyball team defeated the Sikeston Lady Bulldogs 25-21, 23-25, 25-20, in a three set shootout Tuesday night at the Sikeston Field House.

Portageville (6-14) head coach Toni Hill felt her team played inconsistent in their Tuesday night win.

Sikeston's Keyarra Blissett dives for a ball against Portageville Tuesday night at the Sikeston Field House.

"We played a little spotty tonight," Hill said. "We played well at times and not so well at times. That's something we've been working on. We allowed them to almost come all the way back on us, but we were able to get the win."

Sikeston (2-13-2) head coach Steve Beydler also feels that consistency has been the obstacle to his squad's success this season.

"Our record does not reflect how well we have played at times," Beydler said. "We just can not find the consistency that we need."

Portageville's Courtney Chamberlain serves against Sikeston Tuesday night.

Tuesday's match was a back-and-forth affair with six lead changes and 12 ties.

"Our girls did a good job of digging deep and playing hard tonight, especially in the second set," Beydler said.

Sikeston was able to come back from a 23-18 deficit to win the second set set 25-23 to force a third set in the contest.

Service errors were the undoing of Sikeston in the close match.

"At times we played well and at times we played sloppy," Beydler said. "Our main problem tonight was service errors. We had 14 service errors tonight, five in the first game alone. In the second game, our girls really dug in. We had that big rally, which was great."

Statistical leaders for Sikeston included Asia Liggins (9 kills), Keyarra Blissett (9 kills), Tyanne Townsend (6 kills), Casey Palmer (4 kills), Madeline Davis (1 kill), and Mandy Moore (17 assists).

Beydler noted that his girls attitudes and mental determination have greatly improved over the course of the season.

"That (mental determination) is something we haven't seen a lot this year," Beydler said. "Our girls did a good job tonight of embracing the concept of not worrying about what the other team is doing and just staying within ourselves. I was very proud of the job we did especially in that second set tonight."

The Sikeston Lady Bulldogs will be back in action with their final home game of the season against Notre Dame Oct. 15 at 6 p.m.