Sports

Lady 'Cats Fall To Notre Dame In Districts
October 26th 2011 by Unknown
Lady 'Cats Fall To Notre Dame In Districts

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor


The Class 3, District 1 Volleyball tournament carried on with three games on Tuesday evening at the Bearcat Event Center. In the two semifinal matches, the No. 1 Perryville Lady Pirates faced off against the No. 4 Kennett Indians, while Notre Dame faced off against host Dexter in a No. 2/No. 3 matchup.

The Lady Pirates breezed through Kennett in two sets, winning 25-17, 25-12, and advancing to the District Championship game.


In the second semifinal game, the Lady ‘Cats continued their struggles against Notre Dame, and fell in two sets, 15-25, 16-15, despite missing only 2 serves in the contest - Dexter’s Achilles' heel in the regular-season finale.

Coach Lauren Hutchcraft didn’t feel her squad played up to their potential during the season-ending loss.

“I always feel like we can play better.  I still don't feel like they played up to their potential, but I can't change what happened on the court tonight,” she said.  “I don't think us not missing as many serves had any affect on the game, to be honest.”

Erika Cobb had a solid performance for the Lady ‘Cats, with 5 digs, 4 kills, 3 aces, and 7/8 serves. Hannah Noe continued her excellent play, with 6 assists, 5 digs, 1 kill, 1 block, and 6/7 serves.


Hutchcraft played some of her younger players during the second set - Alyssa Spear and Madison McGowan - during the second set of the match in an effort to ‘switch it up’ against the Bulldogs.

  “I played some of those younger kids because I thought they could help us out,” Hutchcraft said.  “This was our third time playing Notre Dame and I was STILL getting the same results with the same thing, I felt I had to make a change if I wanted to try to win.”

 With the loss, the Lady ‘Cats end the season with a 19-10-2 record, with only four of their losses coming in the regular season. The squad loses four seniors - Lindsey Hindman, McKenzie Mitchell, Erika Mouser, and Lauren Ward.

“Well, since I'm on my second year, I was fortunate to have them two of their four years in high school,” Hutchcraft said.  “They provided me with many memories and contributed to the team in many different capacities and roles.  They had a very good season this year, and they should all be proud seeing as to how they contributed a lot this season to the team.”

  Overall, Hutchcraft says she has a good feeling heading into next season with all the young talent she has, and she commended her girls’ performance during the season, both on and off the court.

“This was a fun and exciting season.  We started doing volleyball stuff the first weekend in June and went non-stop,” she said.  “The girls only lost 4 regular season games, so they should be very proud of themselves.  Most of these kids choose to give up their time in the summer and school year to be part of a team.  I commend these girls for their hard work in the classroom at school, every day at practice, and every night they had games.  It's not easy being an athlete!”


“As a coach and teacher, I can only hope that my girls went away with learning what it truly means to make a commitment to their team, learned how to work together to accomplish a goal, and learned what hard work actually is,” she continued. “There are many lessons to be learned when girls choose to be part of a team in high school, and I hope they learned something other than to not make me mad or I might break a clipboard!”


The seeds held true in the District Championship game, with Perryville downing Notre Dame in two sets, 25-13 and 25-22. The Lady Pirates advance to the State playoffs, and will be in action again on October 29, when they face off against the winner of tonight’s District 3 Chapmionship between Lutheran South and Bishop DuBourg.


Last Updated on October 26th 2011 by Unknown




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