Dexter, Missouri – The Dexter Volleyball program is here to stay! That is a fact! The Lady ‘Cats proved they can compete well and now they are over the hump of winning a District Championship. Many of their fans can’t wait until next year’s season to begin!
In front of a packed Bearcat Event Center, Bishop DuBourg defeated Dexter 25-21, 17-25, 25-21 in a very close victory on Saturday afternoon. The Cavaliers offense collected a combined 28 kills from their two best hitters. Dexter fell right in line with seniors Shyann Jines and Jessica Lindsey tallying 25 kills.
“We matched up interesting because they have two big outside hitters that they go to and we have a couple big, strong middles we got to,” commented Dexter’s head volleyball coach Carmen Morgan. “It was a good match-up. They had a good scouting report and I am pretty sure we had a good one on them.”
Jessica Lindsey had a remarkable game with 17 kills and 13 digs. Shyann Jines had 8 kills and 5 digs. Julia Hahn tallied 8 digs and Brittany Brown added 4 digs. Krysten Garrison added 5 kills. Jines served the only ace for the Bearcats.
“The first game we struggled,” Morgan stated. “I felt like we were ready to go out and just take care of business, but we were a little tight. That’s been our M.O. the whole year. We knew they were hard-hitting so we were trying to really work on their hitters. We had a lot of balls going off our hands on the block, but once we started getting our block set and our passes up we were able to run some things we like to run offensively, the pendulum turned and we were hitting at them. We have got to hit at teams, that’s what we do.”
Dexter completed their season with an impressive 29-4-1 record. St. Pius beat Miller Career Academy 25-2, 25-8 in the other Class 3 sectional. St. Pius then defeated Bishop Dubourg 25-21, 18-25, 25-23 to earn their 5th straight trip to the final four which will be hosted in Cape Girardeau on Friday and Saturday. Bishop DuBourg finished their season 27-8-1 and Miller Career Academy finished 18-15.
The Lady ‘Cats had an awesome season finishing undefeated in regular-season SCAA play for a second straight season, they won the SCAA Tournament two years in a row, won the 48 team Dig for Life Classic for the first time in school history and won their Class 3 District Tournament for the first time in 14 years. They have much to be proud of and the seniors can hold their heads high knowing they had a terrific year under Coach Morgan.
“Dexter to me got over the hump,” stated a very teary eyed Morgan. “We got a lot of firsts this year. That district was a big hump for these girls. It has been an amazing year with some wonderful girls who have worked hard, played hard, and I want to emphasize it takes a team pulling together and playing together. You can’t win 29 games without that.”
“When I came Jessie and Shyann were sophomores. I dearly love those two girls. They have stayed with me and I can’t tell you how much I will miss them. I am so proud they are going on and playing at the college level, and probably on the same team. They don’t have another high school game. The last thing I said to them was ‘we are walking out there with our head up!”
Jessica Lindsey and Shyann Jines both graduate this year and they will be missed on the court. It has been a pleasure to watch these girls play and the Dexter Community and the ShowMe Times wish them well in their future endeavors!
