Volleyball: Joplin takes third at Hillcrest Tournament

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A long day of volleyball ended on a positive note for the Joplin High School volleyball team, as the Eagles claimed third place at Saturday’s Hillcrest Invitational Volleyball Tournament.
“I was thrilled,” Eagles coach Staci Saunders said. “I thought we played a really good day of volleyball. We had a few letdowns against Camdenton and Webb City. But for the rest of the day, we played aggressively and did a really good job overall.”
In pool play, Joplin earned wins over Waynesville (26-24, 25-19) and Hillcrest (25-19, 25-16) and lost to Camdenton (26-24, 25-14).
In the tourney’s semifinals, Webb City defeated Joplin 25-22, 25-14.
“Our serve-receive was not great against Webb City,” Saunders said. “It’s hard to do things when you can’t receive the serve. They definitely did a better job in that area than we did.”
In the third-place match, the Eagles defeated Waynesville 25-16, 25-23.
Joplin senior setter Addison Saunders compiled 50 assists, 25 digs, 22 service points and 11 kills, while senior outside hitter Aubrey Ritter contributed 25 digs, 23 kills and 23 service points.
Kaylie Anderson had 50 digs, while Angelina Schramm recorded 16 service points and 14 kills. Allie Lawrence had 18 service points, 17 kills and nine digs, while Emma Floyd had 10 kills and four blocks.
Also for the Eagles, Kacy Coss contributed 14 kills and four blocks, while Baileigh Riley had 25 assists, 17 service points and eight digs.
The Eagles (5-3) are at Aurora on Monday.