Sikeston dropped in two sets by Poplar Bluff

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Hannah Vaughn served up a pair of aces as Poplar Bluff took the first five points of each game Thursday night.

The junior finished with a season-high eight aces and assisted on 19 of 24 kills as the Mules quickly beat Sikeston 25-9, 25-16 for their first win at the new Senior High Gym.

"She has a really good serve," Mules coach Amanda Lance said. "It's a float serve, so it's really hard to pass."

The Mules (4-2) led wire-to-wire as senior Lauren Rowland led with eight kills and had three aces and a block. Doni Everts added six with a pair of blocks, freshman Kiley Bess added four kills and a block while sophomore Sophia Rowland chipped in four kills.

Sikeston (2-3) didn't generate much offense, getting a pair of kills from Morgan Poindexter and a pair of blocks for points by Zaria Blissett. In all, the Bulldogs committed 12 serve-receive errors.

"We've been having really good serve-receive and we've played other teams that serve the ball that low, that quick," Sikeston coach Steve Beydler said. "I don't know what the difference was tonight."

Poplar Bluff jumped ahead 5-0 to start both games.

A pair of errors by Sikeston to start the match was followed by Vaughn's first ace. She then served up another on a short serve before Lauren Rowland's kill up the middle off the Bulldog blockers.

Poindexter answered with a cross-court kill before a pair of hitting errors by the Mules got Sikeston with 5-3. Bess got a kill to start a 6-1 Mules run. It ended following consecutive aces by Lauren Rowland for an 11-4 lead.

Poplar Bluff closed out the game with a 13-2 swing, including the final six points, five of which started with serves by Vaughn.

"It was a lot of chaos and out of system stuff going on," Beydler said. "You've got to give credit to Bluff for playing hard."

Vaughn opened the second game with consecutive aces before kills by Sophia Rowland and Lauren Rowland. Another ace by Vaughn put the Mules up 5-0 before a net violation for Sikeston's first point.

The Bulldogs got within a point by scoring the next four but Bess got a cross-court kill before consecutive kills by Lauren Rowland. Everts later had three straight kills during a 10-1 run. A block for a point by Bess capped it for a 15-5 advantage.

Vaughn later served up a ace for a 22-12 lead but Sikeston's Olivia Nash blocked an attack in the middle to get the serve away from the Mules.

Seven points later the match was over.

"We just didn't play anything like we're capable," Beydler said. "I'm disappointed in our play tonight."

Sikeston is scheduled to take part in the 48-team Dig For Life Classic today and Saturday at Southeast Missouri State University and Notre Dame High School in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

There are 16 three-team pools with the winner of each pool advancing to the gold bracket, second place heads to the silver and third qualifies for the bronze bracket which will begin Saturday afternoon.

The Bulldogs are in Pool C along with Caruthersville and Hillsboro and will play Jackson's junior varsity at 4:30 p.m., and Bismarck at 7 p.m., tomorrow with both games at Rec court 2 on SEMO's campus.

Poplar Bluff won the junior varsity match 25-16, 12-25, 25-7.