Lady Rebels, Lady Cats cruise in first round

By MATT KING\Daily Journal Sports Writer

PARK HILLS - The Central Lady Rebels took care of business on their home floor with a 25-12, 25-14 victory over Valley during opening-round action at the MAAA Conference Tournament on Monday night.

Central (14-11-2) scored three easy points on receiving mistakes to start the game, then built a 6-2 edge on a series of kills by junior Chelsea Pinson. Following an exchange of missed serves and attacks, the Lady Rebels increased the game one margin to 14-8 on an ace from Jessica Lawson.

Kayla Keenan punched an attack through the middle on the next point for the first Valley (5-17) kill of the match, but Pinson promptly countered with an excellent cross-court shot.

The Lady Vikings resisted one game point when Lindsey Evans found a hole in the Central defense, but Lawson punctuated the stanza with a strong kill down the line.

Game one would begin in similar fashion as the Rebels broke out to a quick 8-1 advantage, highlighted by a nice redirection on the second touch by setter Jessica Davis.

Keenan generated some momentum with two consecutive aces to bring Valley to within 10-5, but Central only seemed to strengthen over the closing moments of the match.

Lawson connected on three straight kills, and Pinson followed with two more aces to widen the gap to double digits. Kelsey Politte contributed a late kill for the Lady Rebels by tipping down an errant pass, as the tournament hosts coasted to the victory.

Pinson finished the night with seven kills, while Lawson added five kills and four aces for Central. Davis collected 11 assists and Heather Branch made five digs.

Keenan posted three kills with Chelse Payne assisting on two of them. Payne made three digs to share the team lead for Valley with Rebecca Neier, who left the match with an ankle injury in game two.

The No. 6 seed, Central will face No. 3 Bismarck in the quarterfinal round tonight at 6:30 p.m. Valley will meet Potosi in consolation action today.

Fredericktown 2, Potosi 0

PARK HILLS - Fredericktown showed signs of being a dangerous No. 7 seed during its first-round match on Monday. Despite missing three key starters, the Lady Cats rolled past 10th-seeded Potosi 25-8, 25-20.

Fredericktown (12-13-2) exploded out of the gate as freshman Abbie Tinnin made the most of her chance to start by serving 12 consecutive points to open the match, including six aces.

Courtney Allen halted the momentum with a kill for Potosi (3-16-1), and Abbey Adams served two aces to bring the Lady Trojans to with 12-7 in game one, but persistent passing troubles would keep the score from getting closer.

Jessi Brown served an ace to make it 23-8, and Potosi sent two straight attacks into the net to close out the game, which featured just two total kills. Both offenses would execute much better in game two.

Brown scored with a short kill to give the Lady Cats an early advantage, but Allen found an opening with a quick spike to tie the score at 4-4.

Tinnin knocked down two kills and Cortney Kinney served an ace during a four-point run for Fredericktown, but Potosi answered again as Kelsey Allen won a joust for one point before cutting the margin to 10-8 with a stuff-block from the middle.

Potosi received two more kills from Stephanie McGirl, and survived a lengthy rally to keep its momentum going and even the game. Freshman Lauren Aubuchon then tipped a shot down the line to put the Lady Trojans up 14-13.

Deidre Hughes countered with a nice stuff-block, and Tinnin won a battle above the net to push Fredericktown back in front, but a couple of hitting errors prevented a possible pull-away.

Potosi pulled back to within 21-20 on an illegal set, but a missed serve on the ensuing point proved costly. Brown created more separation with a kill, and Tinnin finished off the victory with back-to-back aces.

Tinnin served 15 points and eight aces in all, and also led Fredericktown with four kills. Brown made three kills and three digs while notching 10 points, while Allison McDowell dished out seven assists.

Adams and Courtney Allen each had three kills for Potosi, and Wendi Dunn collected five assists and four digs.

Fredericktown will play second-seeded Arcadia Valley tonight at 7:45 p.m. in the quarterfinals.