Sikeston falls to Bernie in straight sets

BERNIE -- The Bernie Mules varsity volleyball program survived a slow start and put together an electric finish in a 25-23, 25-14 victory against Sikeston Tuesday night.

The Mules trailed 9-3 and 18-13 in the opening set before rallying to tie things up at 20-20. The set was tied 21-21 before a kill by Cayla Mayberry and ace serve by Kayli Tanner put Bernie on top 23-21. A kill by Sikeston middle hitter Esther Chinwuko cut the deficit to 23-22 before Bernie scored the final two points on a Sikeston missed serve and kill by setter Morgan Baker to take the first set by two points.

"I really don't feel like we got into our game whatsoever tonight," Bernie coach Erin Hoffman said. "I feel like we didn't use what we worked on making better last year tonight. I don't know if it is first-game jitters or it's that hard to change, but I don't think we played our game against Sikeston."

After the teams traded the first 10 points of the second set the Mules went on a 7-1 run to take a 12-6 lead. Sikeston cut the deficit as close as five at 19-14, but never scored after.

The Mules tallied four of its final five points on ace serves by senior Megan Craft.

"I think we may have started to get a little more comfortable," Hoffman said of her team's finish. "We started to move a little bit better and talk a little more. But, again, I feel like we never got into that flow. I told them 'we worked so hard on our game and now we need to us it.' And I don't feel like we used our game."

Sikeston beat Bernie 25-20, 25-19 in the junior varsity contest.

The Mules have a week to prepare for its first road test at Notre Dame Regional High School of Cape Girardeau, Mo., on Sept. 2.

"We are going to put ourselves in more game situations and see how we react to them," Hoffman said of the plan in upcoming practices.