Dexter claims first Dig for Life Classic title

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Dexter Bearcats varsity volleyball team took home the top prize at the 48-team Dig for Life Classic for the first time in school history Saturday evening at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau.

Dexter outlasted Park Hills Central 25-15, 25-13 in the title game after beating Notre Dame 25-12, 25-22 in a semifinal, St. Vincent 25-10, 25-14 in a quarterfinal and Eminence 25-11, 25-5 in a Round of 16 contest.

Before bracket play, Dexter beat Twin Rivers 25-11, 25-10, Park Hills 25-20, 25-21 and South Iron 25-7, 25-10 in pool-play.

Overall, the Bearcats won all 14 sets of the seven matches it played at the tournament to improve its record to 16-2-1.

"What a great day," Dexter coach Carmen Morgan said. "It was a good team effort. Everybody out there stepped it up and did their job from freshmen to seniors. They all did what we needed them to do. We didn't have very many bobbles throughout the tournament. We went undefeated the whole time and that's pretty good."

Park Hills never led either set of the title game. The Bearcats built an 18-9 lead in the first set and 14-7 lead in the second set.

The title game featured multiple long rallies that most often ended with a Bearcat kill or block.

"Park Hills is one of the best defensive teams," Morgan said. "We hit a lot of hard, hard balls and they got them up and back at us. When you play teams like that it just makes you a better team. I'd like to play them a lot because they are always hitting balls back to you."

Dexter tallied 160 kills, 47.5 blocks, 123 digs, 123 assists and 48 aces in the tournament.

"We played off each other well defensively, got the ball up and had some kids that served well," Morgan said.

Jessica Lindsey had a team-high 63 kills, tallied 14.5 blocks, calculated a team-leading 33 digs and had five aces.

Krysten Garrison had 36 kills, a team-high 23 aces, 4.5 blocks, 47 assists and 12 digs.

Julia Hahn had a team-high 66 assists, 23 digs, 3.5 block and five aces.

Shyann Jines had a team-leading 22.5 blocks, 33 kills, 20 digs and seven aces.

Lexie Barnes had 14 digs, nine kills and seven aces.

Kendall Adams had eight kills, Brittany Brown had nine digs, and Ashlyn Werneck had seven digs.

It is the third straight season Dexter has advanced to the final four of the 48-team tournament. The Bearcats advanced to the semifinals in 2012 and lost the championship game to Notre Dame in 2013 before claiming first-place Saturday.

"This was one of our goals," Morgan said. "I told the girls 'mark it off' because they got it done."

View all 131 tournament scores below:

DUSTIN WARD - dward@dailystatesman.com Pictured is the Dexter varsity volleyball team with its first-place medals and plaque Saturday at the Dig for Life Classic at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau. Dexter beat Park Hills Central 25-13, 25-15 in the championship game.

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BRACKET PLAY RESULTS

Gold Bracket

Round of 16

Dexter def. Eminence 25-11, 25-5

St. Vincent def. Lesterville 25-20, 25-19

Notre Dame def. New Haven 25-13, 25-21

Jefferson def. Clearwater 25-20, 25-15

Park Hills Central def. Saxony Lutheran 25-12, 25-10

Leopold def. Bernie 20-25, 25-15, 25-20

Jackson def. Woodland 25-19, 28-26

Bismarck def. Advance 25-17, 25-15

Consolation Quarterfinals

Eminence def. Lesterville 25-22, 25-20

New Haven def. Clearwater 25-13, 25-21

Bernie def. Saxony Lutheran 25-21, 24-26, 25-20

Advance def. Woodland 25-19, 25-15

Consolation Semifinals

New Haven def. Eminence 22-25, 25-16, 25-20

Bernie def. Advance 25-21, 25-21

Consolation Championship

New Haven def. Bernie 17-25, 25-20, 25-22

Quarterfinals

Dexter def. St. Vincent 25-10, 25-14

Notre Dame def. Jefferson 25-16, 25-15

Park Hills Central def. Leopold 25-20, 23-25, 25-18

Bismarck def. Jackson 25-20, 28-30, 25-6

Semifinals

Dexter def. Notre Dame 25-12, 25-22

Park Hills Central def. Bismarck 25-9, 25-16

Championship

Dexter def. Park Hills Central 25-15, 25-13

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Silver Bracket

Round of 16

Portageville def. Holcomb 25-22, 25-21

Gideon def. Southland 25-19, 25-18

Kennett def. Meadow Heights 25-14, 25-23

Cape Central def. Sikeston 25-19, 13-25, 25-17

South Iron def. Oran 25-23, 25-9

Bloomfield def. Greenville 25-20, 25-18

Seckman def. Puxico 25-22, 25-19

Poplar Bluff def. South Pemiscot 25-12, 25-6

Consolation Quarterfinals

Holcomb def. Southland 25-15, 25-18

Meadow Heights def. Sikeston 25-16, 25-19

Oran def. Greenville 25-18, 25-20

Puxico def. South Pemiscot 25-12, 25-19

Consolation Semifinals

Greenville def. Puxico 25-12, 25-23

Holcomb def. Meadow Heights 16-25, 25-23, 25-13

Consolation Championship

Greenville def. Holcomb 25-20, 25-21

Quarterfinals

Portageville def. Gideon 25-14, 25-10

Kennett def. Cape Central 25-11, 25-22

Bloomfield def. South Iron 25-9, 25-19

Poplar Bluff def. Seckman 25-18, 25-17

Semifinals

Portageville def. Kennett 25-18, 19-25, 25-21

Poplar Bluff def. Bloomfield 25-22, 27-25

Championship

Portageville def. Poplar Bluff 25-21, 15-25, 25-23

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Bronze Bracket

Round of 16

Cooter def. Marquand-Zion 27-25, 25-10

NMCC def. Oak Ridge 23-25, 25-22, 25-13

Caruthersville def. Zalma 19-25, 25-21, 25-19

Clarkton def. Senath-Hornersville 25-14, 25-14

Malden def. Twin Rivers 16-25, 25-20, 25-11

Campbell def. Richland 25-13, 25-18

Scott City def. Ellington 25-8, 25-14

Calvary Lutheran def. Bell City 10-25, 25-15, 25-15

Quarterfinals

NMCC def. Cooter 25-8, 25-16

Clarkton def. Caruthersville 25-20, 25-20

Malden def. Campbell 25-13, 25-16

Calvary Lutheran def. Scott City 25-23, 25-20

Semifinals

Malden def. Calvary Lutheran 25-17, 25-15

Clarkton def. NMCC 26-24, 25-15

Championship

Malden def. Clarkton 25-19, 25-21

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POOL PLAY RESULTS

Saturday's Scores

POOL A/B

Park Hills Central def. Holcomb 25-15, 25-15

Dexter def. South Iron 25-7, 25-10

Twin Rivers def. Cooter 25-20, 25-22

POOL C/D

New Haven def. Bell City 25-12, 25-14

Poplar Bluff def. Caruthersville 25-15, 25-10

Kennett split Advance 25-18, 10-25

POOL E/F

Notre Dame def. South Pemiscot 25-7, 25-7

Bismarck def. Zalma def. 25-16, 25-7

Meadow Heights def. Calvary Lutheran 25-15, 25-17

POOL G/H

Clearwater split Leopold 25-24, 19-25

Bloomfield def. Cape Central 25-10, 25-7

Clarkton def. Richland 25-18, 25-13

POOL I/J

Greenville def. Southland 25-11, 25-16

St. Vincent def. Campbell 25-8, 25-4

Bernie def. Oak Ridge 25-3, 25-10

POOL K/L

Gideon def. Scott City 25-18, 25-17

Lesterville split Seckman 25-22, 12-25

Jackson def. NMCC 25-10, 25-16

POOL M/N

Jefferson def. Ellington 25-12, 25-8

Woodland def. Sikeston 25-12, 25-20

Puxico def. Senath-Hornersville 25-9, 25-10

POOL O/P

Portageville def. Oran 25-17, 25-13

Saxony Lutheran split Eminence 21-25, 25-16

Marquand-Zion split Malden 25-24, 12-25

Friday's Scores

POOL A/B

Dexter def. Twin Rivers 25-11, 25-10

Central (Park Hills) def. Cooter 25-7, 25-3

Holcomb split South Iron 25-17, 22-25

Dexter def. Central (Park Hills) 25-20, 25-21

Holcomb def. Twin Rivers 25-19, 25-24

South Iron def. Cooter 25-9, 25-22

POOL C/D

Advance def. Caruthersville 25-3, 25-7

Kennett def. Bell City 25-9, 25-22

New Haven def. Poplar Bluff 25-17, 25-19

Bell City def. Caruthersville 25-20, 25-23

New Haven def. Advance 25-20, 25-18

Poplar Bluff split Kennett 25-19, 22-25

POOL E/F

Bismarck def. Meadow Heights 25-11, 25-15

Notre Dame def. Calvary Lutheran 25-9, 25-9

South Pemiscot def. Zalma 25-22, 25-23

Notre Dame def. Bismarck 25-14, 25-23

Meadow Heights def. South Pemiscot 25-22, 25-15

Zalma split Calvary Lutheran 20-25, 25-17

POOL G/H

Cape Central def. Richland 25-4, 25-9

Leopold def. Clarkton 25-6, 25-12

Clearwater split Bloomfield 25-19, 20-25

Leopold def. Cape Central 25-23, 25-18

Clearwater def. Richland 25-15, 25-9

Bloomfield def. Clarkton 25-20, 25-18

POOL I/J

Bernie def. St. Vincent 25-23, 25-23

Oak Ridge split Greenville 25-11, 22-25

Southland split Campbell 21-25, 25-15

St. Vincent def. Greenville 25-10, 25-22

Bernie def. Southland 25-13, 25-9

Campbell def. Oak Ridge 25-22, 25-12

POOL K/L

Jackson split Lesterville 25-20, 24-25

Scott City def. New Madrid County Central 25-17, 25-24

Seckman def. Gideon 25-20, 25-23

Lesterville def. Scott City 25-13, 25-11

Jackson def. Gideon 25-22, 25-5

Seckman def. New Madrid County Central 25-17, 25-17

POOL M/N

Woodland def. Senath-Hornersville 25-23, 25-17

Jefferson (Festus) def. Puxico 25-14, 25-10

Sikeston def. Southern Reynolds 25-10, 25-16

Jefferson (Festus) def. Woodland 25-20, 25-18

Senath-Hornersville def. Southern Reynolds 25-21, 25-21

Puxico split Sikeston 24-25, 25-18

POOL O/P

Saxony Lutheran def. Marquand-Zion 25-9, 25-3

Portageville def. Malden 25-11, 25-17

Eminence def. Oran 25-8, 25-9

Saxony Lutheran def. Portageville 25-15, 25-16

Oran def. Marquand-Zion 25-16, 25-24

Eminence def. Malden 25-7, 25-17