SEMO Dig for Life Tournament Preview

Pool A   Saxony Lutheran – 1st   Bell City – 2nd   Lesterville – 3rd   Clarkton – 4th   Saxony is the team to beat in this pool but will have their hands full with the three Class 1 teams in the pool. Bell City, Lesterville, and Clarkton will battle it out for second place with Bell City finishing up by winning the split with Lesterville. Grace Ozark, Paige Seibel, and [player_tooltip player_id='240203' first='Clara' last='Brune'] have Saxony firing on all cylinders taking the pool title.   Pool B   Advance – 1st   South Iron – 3rd   Cape Central – 4th   Valle Catholic – 2nd   Defending Class 1 champion Hornets are back at the tournament and will win the pool over Valle Catholic. Addison Carlton, Brogan Hawkins, and [player_tooltip player_id='237006' first='Emma' last='Eilers'] are digging machines to keep the offense humming along with the Pool title. Valle fights off South Iron to finish in second place.   Pool C   St. Vincent – 2nd   Gideon – 3rd   Poplar Bluff – 4th   Central [program_tooltip program_id='428790' first='Park' last='Hills']– 1st   Central [program_tooltip program_id='428790' first='Park' last='Hills'] and St. Vincent battle for the pool title and [player_tooltip player_id='170395' first='Madison' last='Dunn'] and [player_tooltip player_id='451406' first='Blair' last='Sitton'] overwhelm St. Vincent at the net for the pool title. St. Vincent gets the job done against a gritty Gideon team to take the second-place spot.   Pool D   Fredericktown – 1st   Cape Notre Dame – 2nd   Dexter – 4th   Winona – 3rd   The BlackCats have just enough to split past Notre Dame for the pool title. [player_tooltip player_id='170040' first='PJ' last='Reutzel'], Alli Francis, and Amelia Miller helped Fredericktown squeak out the pool title having to overcome one of the best 2026 middle blockers in the state, [player_tooltip player_id='225325' first='Kate' last='Rubel'].   Crossover Matches   1A) Saxony vs. 4D) Dexter   1B) Advance vs. 4C) Poplar Bluff   1C) Central [program_tooltip program_id='428790' first='Park' last='Hills'] vs. 4B) Cape Central   1D) Fredericktown vs. 4A) Clarkton   2A) Bell City vs 3D) Winona   2B) Valle vs. 3C) Gideon   2C) St. Vincent vs. 3B) South Iron   2D) Cape Notre Dame vs. 3A) Lesterville     1st Round Bracket Play   Saxony vs. Gideon   Advance vs. Winona   Central [program_tooltip program_id='428790' first='Park' last='Hills'] vs. Lesterville   Fredericktown vs. South Iron   Bell City vs. Poplar Bluff   Valle vs. Dexter   St. Vincent vs. Clarkton   Notre Dame vs. Cape Central     Quarterfinals   Saxony vs. Advance   Central [program_tooltip program_id='428790' first='Park' last='Hills'] vs. Fredericktown   [player_tooltip player_id='168900' first='Alexis' last='Hoffman'] and Abigail Kennedy help propel Advance to a 2-1 win over Saxony. Central [program_tooltip program_id='428790' first='Park' last='Hills'] has a monster block in [player_tooltip player_id='451406' first='Blair' last='Sitton'] and gets enough defense from Avery Johnson to give the Rebels a 2-0 win over Fredericktown.   Bell City vs. Valle   St. Vincent vs. Notre Dame   [player_tooltip player_id='168910' first='Ade' last='Weiler'] and [player_tooltip player_id='195376' first='Makayla' last='Joggerst'] do it on both sides of the ball and push Valle into the semifinals with a 2-0 win over Bell City. [player_tooltip player_id='225325' first='Kate' last='Rubel'] is a monster in the middle and gives Notre Dame the 2-1 edge over St. Vincent.   Semifinals   Advance vs. Central [program_tooltip program_id='428790' first='Park' last='Hills']   Valle vs. Notre Dame   [player_tooltip player_id='170395' first='Madison' last='Dunn'] is huge in this match and plays tremendously in the backcourt to give [player_tooltip player_id='451406' first='Blair' last='Sitton'] enough chances to get the edge over Advance 2-1. Valle is more experienced and defensively stronger than the Bulldogs to take a 2-1 win to move into the finals.   Finals   Valle vs. Central [program_tooltip program_id='428790' first='Park' last='Hills']   These two played the last day of August and it was a bitter battle till the end. [program_tooltip program_id='428790' first='Park' last='Hills'] Central would take the win 16-14 in the 5th. Valle won every aspect of the previous match except for the 16 service errors. Ava Bauman and Ada Bley have a big match defensively at the net, while [player_tooltip player_id='737615' first='Abree' last='Zipprich'] spreads the offense around to all her guns. Maddison Dunn, Blair Sitton, and Avery Johnson are ferocious at the net for Central, and Kelsie Politte takes care of the backcourt but in the end, Central will outlast Valle in a 2-1 marathon.

Pool A