NEOSHO, Mo. — At the conclusion of a long, productive day of volleyball, the Joplin Eagles fell one win short of playing for a tournament championship.
Northwest-Cedar Hill defeated Joplin 2-0 (25-22, 25-20) in a semifinal contest of the Neosho Invitational Volleyball Tournament on Saturday afternoon inside the Neosho Junior High gymnasium.
The Lions went on to beat Marshfield in three sets in the championship match.
After her squad went 2-2-1 on the day, Eagles coach Staci Saunders noted she was proud of her team’s effort.
“I thought we got better throughout the day,” Saunders said. “I was really proud of how we played in bracket play. We had a strong game against Neosho and I thought we played well against Cedar Hill. We have to clean up our errors, but I thought our defense was much better. We did a good job blocking. We played a good game against Cedar Hill. We gave them everything they wanted. Overall, it was another great team effort. They did a good job.”
In Gold Pool play, Joplin split two sets with Seneca (lost 25-22 and won 25-17), lost to Marshfield 2-0 (25-12, 25-20) and beat Riverton 2-0 (25-13, 25-20).
In bracket play, Joplin defeated conference rival Neosho 2-0 (25-10, 25-14) before ending the day against Northwest, a school 35 miles from St. Louis.
In the semifinal contest, Joplin led the first set 10-5, but the Lions tied the set at 13. Northwest later went on a 12-2 scoring run to go up 19-14. The Eagles stayed within striking distance, but fell short.
The second set was tied at 15 but Northwest rattled off five of the next six points. An ace by senior setter Addison Saunders and a kill from senior outside hitter Aubrey Ritter kept the Eagles close, but Northwest closed it out.
“It all comes down to who can receive the serve better,” Saunders said. “We’ve got to be able to serve-receive consistently. When we play consistent volleyball, we can be a hard team to beat.”
For the day, Addison Saunders compiled 36 assists, 31 service points, 30 digs and 10 kills, while classmate Ritter racked up 36 digs, 17 kills and 16 service points.
Angelina Schramm contributed 18 service points, 17 kills and nine digs, while Allie Lawrence had 18 kills, 12 digs and seven serve points.
Also for the Eagles, Kaylie Anderson had 28 digs, Baileigh Riley handed out 19 assists and Kacy Coss had 12 kills.
In Black Pool play, Neosho went 1-2. The Wildcats defeated Diamond 2-0 (25-16, 25-18) and suffered losses to Northwest (25-10, 25-14) and Lamar (25-14, 25-16).
In Tuesday’s COC matches, Joplin hosts Ozark and Neosho hosts Carthage.
NEOSHO INVITATIONAL VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT
BLACK POOL
Northwest def. Neosho 25-10, 25-14; Northwest def. Lamar 25-12, 25-15; Northwest def. Diamond 25-11, 25-9; Lamar def. Neosho 25-14, 25-16; Lamar def. Diamond 25-20, 25-16; Neosho def. Diamond 25-16, 25-18.
GOLD POOL
Joplin split with Seneca 22-25, 25-17; Marshfield def. Joplin 25-12, 25-20; Joplin def. Riverton 25-13, 25-20; Marshfield def. Seneca 25-15, 25-21; Marshfield def. Riverton 25-23, 25-20; Seneca split with Riverton 15-25, 25-19.
BRACKET PLAY
Northwest def. Riverton 25-16, 25-8; Joplin def. Neosho 25-10, 25-14; Lamar def. Seneca 25-21, 25-12; Marshfield def. Diamond 25-13, 25-11.
Semifinals: Northwest def. Joplin 25-22, 25-20; Marshfield def. Lamar 25-11, 25-17.
Championship: Northwest def. Marshfield.
