Lady Lions outlast South Pemiscot

SENATH, Mo. -- The Senath-Hornersville Lady Lions simply refused to lose, and because of it they are in a position to win at least a share of the Bootheel Conference title.

The Lady Lions got big nights on the net from the duo of Jami Jackson and Megan Smith and rallied back to take a 17-25, 25-17, 25-23 win over the South Pemiscot Lady Bulldogs here Tuesday night in a Bootheel Conference contest.

"The girls played hard," Senath-Hornersville coach Lori Hoffmann said. "They did not give up (in) any (way) all night. They wanted this victory bad. They fought to win it."

With the win, Senath-Hornersville (16-4-1, 4-1 Bootheel) can lock up at least a share of the league title with a win Thursday against Caruthersville. The Lady Bulldogs and Kennett each have one conference loss as well.

"That was probably a large motivating factor for the girls," Hoffmann said.

After dropping the opening set, the Lady Lions began their comeback in set No. 2. Smith came up with three straight kills to push her team to an 11-6 lead. Smith put Senath-Hornersville up 19-10 with another kill, then closed the set with a kill to force a deciding third set.

"Megan had some tremendous blocks tonight," said Hoffmann. "She had a lot of kills and a lot of blocks. Everybody was playing around her -- and Jami.

"Jami had a good night also with her blocks and just being that big presence up there. Everybody just played (well) around them. It was a true team effort tonight."

In the final set, there were six ties as both teams battled to the wire. Jackson's block made it 18-13 and the Lady Lions seemed to be pulling away, but South Pem battled back, closing the gap to 21-20 on a Shelby Booker ace and tying the score at 21 on the next series.

Smith snapped a 23-all tie with a kill, then Senath-Hornersville took match point on a Lady Bulldog error.

Jackson and Smith each had nine kills on the night, while Smith had six blocks and Jackson added five.

Tuesday's game is a strong indication that next week's Bootheel Conference Tournament at Portageville will be a war. Kennett, Senath-Hornersville and South Pemiscot are all 1-1 against each other, and all three matches have needed three sets to be decided.

"In our conference, there are so many teams that are right there close together it's whoever's on that night," Hoffmann said. "Whoever wants it the worst is going to win it."