By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

The Lady Bearcats fought hard in the annual Dig Pink! Game on Thursday night, but ultimately wound up splitting the match with the Poplar Bluff Lady Mules.

The JV squad, still unbeaten on the season, picked up 25-10 and 25-20 wins to claim their match.


The Lady ‘Cats scratched their way back into the game during the third set of the Varsity match, putting together a rally while down 20-24 to tie the set at 24 all, but Bluff was able to come out on top in the three-set win - 25-27, 25-19, 24-26.


Coach Lauren Hutchcraft felt her squad’s defensive effort was the key flaw in the Lady ‘Cats’ performance.

“Our defensive effort was lacking, especially on the back row,” she said. “Our blocking was good - Jessica, Brittany, Hannah, and Erika did a great job of that - but the back row was a little weak tonight. That was our main problem.”


Hutchcraft’s front row players - Jessica Lindsey, Brittany Harris, Hannah Noe, and Erika Cobb - combined for 25 blocks in the contest. The squad also racked up 32 kills.


“We missed four serves tonight, two in the third set,” Hutchcraft continued. “Those are points you just can’t miss at all.”

The squad has only been in three-set matches a handful of times this year, and Hutchcraft said that was also part of the problem.

“It could be fatigue, but they just stopped talking,” she said. “When you have a breakdown in communication, then that effects everyone on the floor. When you don’t talk, you don’t know what’s going on.”


The Lady ‘Cats will be in action again next week, when they head to Advance for the SCAA Tournament.

“County tournament will really be anybody’s game. There’s a strong group in this county, and it will be an exciting time for all teams,” Hutchcraft said. “Hopefully we have a good crowd there, because it could go any way, it just depends what team shows up to play.”

The JV ‘Cats drew the No. 1 seed, and won’t play until Thursday at 5:00 p.m., when they face the winner of the Bloomfield (No. 4)/Richland (No. 5) match. The Varsity squad earned the No. 2 spot, and they will be in action Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m., when they face Woodland (No. 7).


Tournament brackets can be downloaded and printed out here.