BY JASON PEAKE
NIXA, Mo.—The Webb City Cardinals were unable to knock off the state's topranked team.
As a result, a stellar season came to an end.
Nixa defeated Webb City 25-11, 25-18 on Saturday at the Class 4 sectional tournament at Nixa High School.
Webb City concludes the season with a record of 28-7. It was the program's first trip to the state tourney since 2006.
"I couldn't be more proud of our season," Webb City coach Rhonda Lawrence said. "We have marked history for Webb City volleyball, and we've marked history by being recognized in the state. I'm proud of my team and we're really going to miss our seniors."
The Eagles (34-4) are ranked first in Missouri, regardless of class, by Max-Preps. Webb City entered the match at No. 16 in the same rankings.
Lawrence noted there's no shame in falling short against the state's No. 1.
"Nixa has a really balanced attack and they do a lot of really good things," Lawrence said. "It comes down to serving and passing and they do those things well. I'm proud we brought and we threw them off a little bit. But we didn't execute at times and they took advantage of our weak spots."
"Survive and advance, that's all we were thinking about," Nixa coach Annie Zimmerman said. Offensively, we're pretty balanced and that makes it easier for us to keep teams off-balance."
Senior outside hitter Anna Swearengen had five kills for the Cardinals, while junior outside hitter Maddy Peeples contributed four kills to go along with five digs. Webb City junior setter Anna Hettinger handed out six assists, while senior outside hitter Ashley Cates had a team-high nine digs.
Also for the Cardinals, junior libero Sage Crane had eight digs, while senior setter Allie Johnson contributed four digs and three assists and senior middle hitter Talyn Smith compiled two kills, two blocks and two digs.
Nixa's Jordan Collard and Taylor Golmen recorded eight kills apiece, while Jaycee Fixsen and Kenzie Hines added five kills apiece. Also for the Eagles, setter Sydney Golden had 27 assists and libero Lexie Gregory had 13 digs.
The first set was tied at 4 when Nixa went on a 12-3 run, with a kill and a solo block from Hines giving the hosts a 16-7 advantage. Swearengen recorded a kill for the Cardinals, but Nixa closed out the first set on a 9-3 surge.
The Cardinals hung tough throughout the back-and-forth second set. Webb City took a 15-13 lead after Johnson served an ace, but the set was soon tied at 17.
At that point, Nixa pulled away for good with Gregory serving, as the Eagles finished the match on an 8-1 burst.
"I was a little disappointed we weren't able to gain separation earlier in the second set, but Webb City starting playing better defense," Zimmerman said. "They defended us better in the second set. We weren't getting any easy kills in the second set. We knew they would play hard."
Willard defeated Jefferson City 25-21, 25-17 in the other sectional matchup. In the quarterfinals, Nixa beat Willard 25-17, 25-11 to earn a berth in Friday's semifinals in Cape Girardeau.
Joplin Globe 11/03/19 (Used by permission)