Lady Tribe tunes up for district with win

With the start of district volleyball tournaments just days away, preparing to make a run at a district championship is of the utmost importance.

And for the Kennett Lady Indians and the Senath-Hornersville Lady Lions, what better way to tune up than to play each other?

"It's always a battle when we come to Kennett," Senath-Hornersville coach Lori Hoffmann said. "It doesn't matter who should win -- you never know who's going to win."

It was a battle again Monday night, as Kennett fought its way past the Lady Lions 25-19, 25-23 in the regular season finale for the Lady Tribe.

"We're look at three games to win our district tournament," Kennett coach Laura Ort said. "Coming in tonight, Senath showed us some of our weaknesses and some of the things we need to get better at. We changed the lineup a little bit and I believe that this lineup is going to help us offensively and defensively. We've got a week to get to where we want to be and I believe we'll get there."

Hoffmann, whose team is the top seed in the Class 2, District 1 Tournament that it hosts next week, echoed Ort's sentiments.

"It's a good thing to play good teams right before you go into the district tournament to get your team ready to play," the Senath-Hornersville coach said.

Kennett opens Class 3, District 1 Tournament play against Doniphan next Monday at Dexter, with the winner taking on top-seeded Notre Dame in the semifinals.

The Lady Tribe (18-7-4) got a strong night serving from Jamie Jarrett, who was on the service line when her team rallied to take the lead in the opening set and also got the kill at match point to clinch the second set.

"Jamie served the ball very well tonight, and her passes were a lot better tonight," said Ort. "She has moved from the setting position to playing a regular back-row position. She's done a good job. She has tremendous reflexes."

In the second set, the Lady Lions (20-6-1) took a 10-8 lead on Jami Jackson's block, but Jody Vancil added back-to-back kills to tie the score at 12-all, then Vancil added another kill later to put Kennett ahead to stay at 16-15.

However, Senath-Hornersville did not give up, running off four straight points to make it 24-23 before Jarrett's kill ended the rally and the contest.

Ciara Dewrock led the way with seven kills Monday and also added seven digs, an ace and a block, while Taylor Wake chipped in five kills and 10 digs, Jody Vancil added five kills, five digs and a pair of aces and Audrey Wynne finished with six kills and six blocks.

Jarrett finished with seven digs and the one kill, while Mallory Brown chipped in five digs, Morgan Pickens added a pair of kills and a pair of blocks and Chrisie Burrow dished off 23 assists.

"We changed some things up a little bit and some people are in different spots," Ort said. "But, that being said, I feel like my girls came out there, played behind each other and for each other."

Kennett is off until next week's district tournament, while the Lady Lions head to Hayti tonight and Southland on Friday ahead of the Class 2, District 1 Tournament which it hosts next week. Senath-Hornersville is also the tourney's top seed.