SHS falls on Senior Night

Sikeston's Mandy Moore (14) prepares to return a ball over the net in Wednesday evening's contest with Notre Dame. Asia Liggins (10) looks in on the play. (Photo by David Jenkins, Staff)

SIKESTON -- It was not the Senior Night that the Sikeston volleyball team was expecting.

The Lady Bulldogs played host to the Notre Dame Bulldogs on Wednesday night for the last home game of the season with the blue Bulldogs winning their 13th straight match in two sets, 25-8 and 25-9.

"I was really hoping that it would be good, but it wasn't," Sikeston senior Casey Palmer said. "It's kind of sad since it's my last game here and I wish it would have gone better but it's alright. They're (Notre Dame) a good team."

Notre Dame (18-4) received a huge lift from the serving of Meghan Dohogne in the first set. Nine points came from the serve of Dohogne with five of those points being aces.

"When we got down, everybody got down and we couldn't find a way to get back up," Sikeston senior Andrea Coleman added. "We tried but our mojo just wasn't working for us."

In the second set, Notre Dame continued their dominance. They scored 18 straight points off of the serving of Alyssa Ruopp, after Sikeston received the first point of the set when Notre Dame hit a shot out of bounds. Dohogne hit the net to end the scoring streak to make it an 18-2 game.

"She's a good server," Notre Dame head coach Tara Stroup said about Ruopp. "She's always our first server and she does a good job. Megan Dohogne played around the net most of the game and also had a good game."

Dohogne ended up with nine kills and five aces. Shannon Brennan had 16 assists and Ruopp added six aces.

"Of course we all expected a win but they're a pretty tough team," Sikeston senior Mandy Moore said. "We didn't always do the best but we're a really good team. We care for each other so much and it was just a great experience to spend three months with these girls."

Tyanne Townsend led Sikeston with three kills, Asia Liggins followed with two kills and three blocks while Madeline Davis added one kill and Vonteria Applewhite had one ace.

Sikeston (2-14-2) will now be heading to the SEMO Conference tournament where the Bulldogs are hoping to be prepared to make a little bit of noise.

"We really just expect to come in here and play," Sikeston senior Keyarra Blissett said. "We wanted to brush up on some things before we step into the conference tournament. We played a really good team and I think we need to get a little more prepared before we head into the conference."