Bernie volleyball team finishes third in Class 1 pool play at final four

Note: A photo gallery of the action is available at this link Final Four Photos

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - The Bernie Mules kept its shot of qualifying for the Class 1 state championship alive until the final point of pool play Friday but ultimately came up short in its bid to finish in the top two of its four-team pool.

New Haven avoided having to play a one-set playoff with Bernie to determine second place in its pool when it scored the final two points of pool play to break a 23-23 second-set tie and defeat the Mules 25-16, 25-23.

The loss left Bernie in outright third place in its pool with a record of 2-4.

Bernie opened the day 2-0 after it beat three-time defending champion Winona 26-24, 25-22. The Mules moved to 2-2 when it suffered a 25-11, 25-19 loss to Santa Fe before it dropped the must-split nightcap to New Haven.

"The last two games we just didn't play as well as we are capable of playing," Bernie coach Jason Long said of the third-place finish in pool play. "We were up against good teams and I cannot fault the girls' effort. We had been playing well for a pretty good stretch, but struggled with several different things, especially the second two games today, and we just didn't play well enough to get it done."

Santa Fe finished first in its pool with a record of 5-1. New Haven placed second with a record of 4-2 and Winona placed fourth with a record of 1-5.

Santa Fe (35-1-1) plays New Haven (31-7-1) for the Class 1 state championship Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau.

Bernie (25-10-2) plays Winona (26-7-4) for third place Saturday at 10:30 a.m. at Show Me Center.

"It's a very important game," Long said of the season finale. "It's still an honor to be here and an honor to play for third-place. There are a ton of schools that would like to be in that position even though that's not the ultimate goal. So we will regroup, come back and play better Saturday."

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Friday's Action

Bernie vs. Winona

The Mules first match of the day against Winona came down to the wire in both sets.

Bernie jumped out to an 11-6 lead in the first set. The Mules enjoyed leads of 21-17 and 24-22 late in the first set before Winona scored the next two points to tie things up at 24-24. Bernie outside senior Addie Shelton followed with consecutive kills to end the first set.

Bernie fell behind 8-4 in the second set and played from behind until it scored five straight points to move ahead of Winona 18-17. Winona moved back ahead 20-19 but Bernie followed with the next four points for a 23-20 lead and never trailed after.

Bernie middle hitter Kayli Tanner recorded 10 of her team's 21 kills against Winona. Shelton added seven more kills.

Bernie setter Morgan Baker had 16 of her team's 19 assists and calculated a team-high 17 digs.

Cymber Arnold added 11 more digs and Shelton recorded 10 digs.

Bridgette Rutledge recorded six of Winona's 18 kills. Kyndal Thomason contributed four more kills for Winona.

Madison Counts had 10 assists and Lilly Wright had seven assists setting for Winona.

Rutledge collected 13 digs, Wright had 12 digs and Tesia McGee added 10 more digs.

Bernie vs. Santa Fe?

Santa Fe jumped out to a 13-7 lead and never trailed after in both sets again Bernie.

Santa Fe tallied 33 of its 50 points on kills while limiting Bernie to 11 kills.

Kylie Limback paced Santa Fe with 16 kills. Sadie Limback added 10 more kills and 11 assists.

Lauren Wiggins recorded a team-high 17 assists for Santa Fe.

Tanner had five kills for Bernie.

Baker had all eight of the Mules' assists.

Shelton had 15 of the Mules' 34 digs.

Bernie vs. New Haven

New Haven jumped out to a 21-8 lead in the first set and overcame a 17-12 deficit in the second set to secure a straight-set win against Bernie.

The final set was tied at 19, 20, 22 and 23. New Haven followed with a kill and block to secure the win.

Tanner had 10 of her team's 20 kills against New Haven.

Shelton recorded a team-high 17 digs and added seven more kills.

Baker had a team-high 17 assists and 10 digs. Arnold had 14 digs.

Emma Borcherding tallied a team-high seven kills and collected 10 digs for New Haven. Maddie Fleer and Lauren Bergner both contributed four kills for New Haven.

Erin Scheer had all 18 of New Haven's assists.

New Haven finished with four blocks and Bernie did not record a block.

Editor's Note: A page of color photos are located of Page 13 of Saturday's Dexter Daily Statesman.