Dexter continues its winning ways; Bernie falls to Twin Rivers

NEW MADRID -- Dexter got off to a slow start, but managed to improve its current winning streak to five matches with a 25-22, 25-13 win on the road against the New Madrid County Central Lady Eagles Tuesday.

"It took us a little while tonight (Tuesday) to get to our game," Dexter coach Kris Vandeven said. "We barely squeaked by 25-22 in the first, but came out ready in the second game."

Sophomore Abbie Warren led the Lady Bearcats at the net with nine kills, followed by Jessica Satterfield with eight. Cathryn Heil had a game-high 13 assists while senior Brooke Thrower lead the team with eight digs.

Jerry Jarrell photo Bernie's Leslie Kean digs out a low ball during action against Twin Rivers Tuesday at Bernie. The Lady Mules lost a hard-fought, 30-28, 25-23, decision to the Lady Royals.

While Dexter has been showing improvement over its current winning streak, coach Vandeven saw some of the team's old problems creeping back in their game.

"Our lack of communication sometimes seems to hold us back from our potential," Vandeven stated. "We have been doing better lately, but we did have a bit of a breakdown tonight (Tuesday). It seems like our level of play is a direct reflection on how well we communicate.

"We have some things to work on this week in practice, and hope to be ready for (Poplar) Bluff on Thursday night," she added.

With the win, Dexter now stands at 14-10-1 overall and 4-3 in SCAA Conference play.

New Madrid avoided the sweep with a win in the jayvee match, 25-21, 17-25, 25-12.

Dexter's jayvee squad now supports a 4-13-1, 1-6, record.

Twin Rivers wins thriller at Bernie

BERNIE -- Serving proved to be the difference as the Twin Rivers Lady Royals pulled out a thrilling, 30-28, 25-23, win over Bernie on the Lady Mules' home court Tuesday.

Missed serves by the Lady Mules and the inability to return serves against Twin Rivers' Briana Johnson allowed the Lady Royals to squeak out the Game 1 win.

Six missed serves by the Lady Mules, the last coming on game point, proved costly to Bernie in the opener, while Johnson was knocking down eight points for the Lady Royals from the service line, including seven that Bernie couldn't return.

"This loss is very disappointing," Bernie coach Jeff Rodgers said. "These girls have been serving since elementary school and some of them still struggle with it. We missed four serves the first game that absolutely cost us the game including a missed serve on game point. We also couldn't handle their two good servers and that also cost us dearly.

"We hit the ball well," Rodgers continued. "Jessie Alexander probably had her best game of the season. All of these really close games were losing has got to stop."

Alexander's nine kills for the match ranked second behind Jenny Eubanks with 11. Kristin Eaves added six kills, while Eubanks and Eaves both were charted with five solo blocks.

Sarah Deason led the Lady Mules' effort with 25 digs, followed by Amber Mirth with 18.

With the loss, Bernie's varsity squad drops to 12-10-1 on the season.

Bernie's jayvee unit needed a Game 3 rally to salvage a split on the night.

"The jayvee did not play well, but fought back from a pretty big deficit in the third game to somehow pull out the win," Rodgers noted. "My jayvee plays some absolutely crazy games, but a lot of times they gut out the win"

Lyndsey Stone led the jayvee Lady Mules with eight kills, followed by Bailey Martin's seven. Krystal Rainey added 17 assists and Rachel Palmer had a team-high 33 digs.

Bernie will next be in action Thursday when the Lady Mules will travel to Bloomfield for a SCAA match with the Lady Wildcats.