STE. GENEVIEVE, Mo. - The Gideon with Risco Bulldogs rallied to force extra points in the second set but was unable to put together the finish it needed to force a third set against the Lesterville Bearcats Saturday.
Lesterville broke a 24-24 tie with consecutive points after a timeout as it outlasted Gideon with Risco 25-19, 26-24 in a Class 1 sectional at Valle Catholic High School.
“Definitely pleased with our effort,” Gideon volleyball coach Kristen Ashabranner said. “We came in talking about just playing our game and working hard so I’m definitely pleased with our girls.”
After a timeout, Lesterville moved back ahead 25-24 on kill by Mallory Polk. The Bearcats took the next point to end the match when it blocked a ball to the floor.
“We were just trying to focus on the first pass so we could get the ball up and set our middle hitters,” Ashabranner said of the second set. “We played a really good game. We definitely didn’t come up here and just lay down. I thought our girls worked hard and did a good job.”
The Bulldogs’ only lead in the first set was 9-8. The first set was tied 15-15 before Lesterville went on a 7-1 run to take a 22-16 lead. Gideon with Risco scored the next three points to cut the deficit to 22-19 but never scored after.
Lesterville finished with 27 kills while Gideon with Risco recorded 19 kills.
Jadyn Fitzgerald and Abby Robbs both tallied 10 kills for the Bearcats. Polk added six more kills.
Bixler paced Gideon with Risco with 13 kills.
“We knew we had to try to play defense,” Ashabranner said. “We are not the best blocking team and we don't hit from all three angles so playing them was little bit of a different look for us. We knew we were going to have to be quick and move our feet to get to the ball and do what we could get it up and set our hitters.”
Valle Catholic beat Advance 25-21, 25-19 in the other Class 1 sectional Saturday. Valle Catholic (30-3) beat Lesterville 25-19, 26-24 in a state quarterfinal Saturday night.
Gideon with Risco finishes its season with a record of 21-11. It graduates six seniors.
“I couldn’t ask for a better group of girls all the way around,” Ashabranner said. “With it being our co-op season with Risco it was a little different with players coming in that have never been under me. But I could’t ask for a better group of girls. They came up here and made a name for themselves. I’m going to miss the seniors, but we’ve got a good group of juniors moving forward."