SEMO Dig for Life Red Division Tournament Preview!

With over 60 teams heading to Cape Girardeau this weekend for the Dig for Life tournament, if you are searching for a play to watch 175 matches, then this is the place to be. The tournament is broken into two separate divisions again this year. They take the top 24 teams and put them in the Red Division, and the remaining teams fall in the Black Division. Some of the teams should be moved around, but that’s left to the tournament coordinators. This tournament is a grueling one to win each year. Pools below and how we think they will finish for the Red Division.     Pool A Rock Bridge 1st Ste. Genevieve 2nd Woodland 3rd Eminence 4th   Pool B Northwest 2nd Cape Notre Dame 1st South Iron 3rd Gideon 4th   Pool C Seckman 2nd Saxony Lutheran 4th Farmington 1st Bloomfield 3rd   Pool D Ellington 2nd Hillsboro 3rd Cape Central 1st St. Vincent 4th   Pool E Summersville 4th Jefferson 2nd Dexter 1st Park Hills Central 3rd   Pool F Valle Catholic 1st Lesterville 2nd Poplar Bluff 3rd Kennett 4th   Pool A top 2 Rock Bridge- Class 5 Rock Bridge will roll through this pool A. Coming in with a 5-3 record, Bruins are lead by D1 recruit [player_tooltip player_id="101566" first="Ella" last="Swindle"] and her imposing block for a setter, but at 6’3, you’d expect that. Add in outsides [player_tooltip player_id="119220" first="Lily" last="Dudley"] and [player_tooltip player_id="41801" first="Emma" last="Lea Benney"], the Bruins, have a solid team. Plus 7 of the 15 on the roster are 5’11 or taller. You won’t see another team in this tourney with that much height.   Ste. Genevieve- The Dragons come in with a 3-1 record, having lost in 5 to Jackson to start the year. Dragons have a trio of hitters that will make things difficult for Pool A. Abby Moore, Dru Koetting, and Arie Taylor are the top 3 hitters on the team. Mix in Aj Prudent and her blocking skills, and the Dragons will give Rock Bridge a few fits.   Pool B top 2 Cape Notre Dame- The Bulldogs came in with a 2-1 record and lost the season opener to Farmington in 5. Rylee McClintock finished with 21 kills, Kristin Anderson with ten kills, and Tori Rubel with 8. Notre Dame is more than capable of making the tournament’s finals but will need to continue with a balanced attack to do so.   Northwest- Northwest will come in with a 2-0 record and is feeding two outsides in Lizzy Vermillon and Haley Yount. These two currently provide 75% of the offense, and you can see why once you get to watch them play.   Pool C top 2 Farmington The black and gold will come in undefeated, being lead by a trio of juniors. With Jade Roth dominating the middle with her wingspan, she is way bigger than her 6’0 frame, making it hard for an attacker to get by her. Shoot the ball out to team-leading kill master Jelena Gray or Grace Duncan, and the Knights will make a lot of noise this year.   Seckman Jaguars will be another large school in this tournament that will make noise once they get going. With Tayler Neal slamming balls on the outside, lefty Riley Howdeshell with that line shot, and middle Erin Treis shutting down the opponents, I think Seckman could be a front runner for the finals.   Pool D top 2 Cape Central [player_tooltip player_id="119187" first="Ella" last="Vogel"] and Ava Nelson get the Tigers off and running. With [player_tooltip player_id="119187" first="Ella" last="Vogel"]’s athleticism and hard-hitting playing outside and middle, she is one hard player to stop. Toss in Ava Nelson, Madison Phelps, Demi Drum, and the Tigers are more well-rounded than previous years.   Ellington The other three teams in this pool, are pretty evenly matched, so I’ll go with the Whippets to pull out the second spot. With some of the same kids playing volleyball that won a state basketball championship last year, this team has plenty of talent. With Laura Gore, Gretchen Hackworth, Abbi Harper, and Kaylee King, the Whippets have potential upsets. They are coming in 4-1 with only a 1-3 defeat to Lesterville.   Pool E top 2 Dexter Having lost a ton of talent last year, the Bearcats have reloaded for a new season. Coming in with a 4-1 record and being lead by kill leader Carly Long, Rachel Cobb, Dulcie Pullen, Avery Neely, and freshman Kate Nichols the team has what it takes to pull off a run into the semifinals. The only loss was a 2-3 defeat by Class 5 Jackson. Jefferson The Bluejays have some talented kids making noise in the club season, and if the pieces fit should make noise this high school season. With seven juniors getting all the playing time, this team will be on the hunt for the next two years. Lead by Emma Breier, [player_tooltip player_id="101698" first="Kirstyn" last="Loyd"], digging machine [player_tooltip player_id="102557" first="Ava" last="Roth"], Avery Richardson, and Riley Duvall look for Jefferson to put up a fight to make the semifinals.   Pool F top 2 Valle Catholic Warriors come into the tourney off a second-place finish in the state last year for Class 2. They moved up to Class 3, and the Warriors are still a contender. With big middle blockers, [player_tooltip player_id="119213" first="Ella" last="Bertram"] and Hailey Weibrecht returning, the middle is solid for Valle. Feeding those middles will be all-state [player_tooltip player_id="119203" first="Sam" last="Loida"] and her 981 assists. Look for the Warriors to win the pool F and go into the playoffs undefeated. Lesterville Class 1 runner-up is back and reloaded for another season. Coming in with a 3-0 record and solid play from the trio of juniors, the Bearcats could be in for another banner year. They are led by two-time all-state outside hitter [player_tooltip player_id="123465" first="Reese" last="Gray"], outside Piper Fitzgerald, and all-state setter [player_tooltip player_id="152153" first="Grace" last="Hicks"]. Look for the Bearcats to make some noise, but can they complete the large schools in this tournament?   Red Division Gold bracket Play in games Rock Bridge over Jefferson 2-0 Northwest over Cape Central 2-1 Lesterville over Ellington 2-0 Dexter over Seckman 2-1   Quarterfinals Rock Bridge over Farmington 2-1 Valle Catholic over Northwest 2-0 Notre Dame over Lesterville 2-0 Ste. Gen over Dexter 2-1   Semifinals Rock Bridge over Valle 2-1 Notre Dame over Ste. Gen 2-1   Finals Rock Bridge over Notre Dame 2-1 The Bruins have many weapons and are a big blocking team. I see the Bulldogs giving them some fight but not enough to knock off [player_tooltip player_id="101566" first="Ella" last="Swindle"], [player_tooltip player_id="119220" first="Lily" last="Dudley"], and company.