Ozark Grand Slam Preview

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Ozark Tournament has become one of the premier Tournaments in Missouri. The tournament is broken into five pools of three and pool matches start on Friday afternoon. Saturday play consists of teams finishing in pool play. All the top teams in each pool then play each other to determine the tournament winner. 2^nd place finishers battle each other and 3^rd place finishers do the same. &nbsp;Let's get right into the pools and predictions.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><mark class="has-inline-color has-primary-color"><em>Pool A</em></mark></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Eureka 20-8</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Central 2-22-2</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Greenwood, AR 13-8</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Pool Predictions</strong>: Eureka has too much for either team to handle and [player_tooltip player_id='124215' first='Olivia' last='Hasbrook'] and company win the pool. Greenwood, AR takes 2^nd in the pool followed by Central.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em><mark class="has-inline-color has-primary-color">Pool B</mark></em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Ozark 23-3</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Eldon 16-7-2</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Borgia 14-9-1</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Pool Prediction:</strong> This pool is one of the more balanced pools and [player_tooltip player_id='150036' first='Reagan' last='Baade'] and Ozark should have no issues taking the top spot. Borgia and Eldon used to battle it out yearly in the late 80s and early 90s as the top teams in the state in their Class 3 at the time. Borgia will nip Eldon in 3 to finish 2^nd.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em><mark class="has-inline-color has-primary-color">Pool C</mark></em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Liberty 12-6</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Rogersville 11-10-3</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Jefferson City 16-7</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Pool Prediction:</strong> This pool features one of the best players in the 2025 class in the nation. [player_tooltip player_id='153930' first='Abigail' last='Mullen'] will thump her opponents on the outside and give Liberty the pool title. Jefferson City winners of their last 8 will finish second.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em><mark class="has-inline-color has-primary-color">Pool D</mark></em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Lafayette 24-2</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Joplin 6-19</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Park Hill South 6-18</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Pool Prediction</strong>: [player_tooltip player_id='207267' first='Kira' last='Dufner'] is having a fantastic year for the Lancers and will lead Lafayette to the Pool title. Park Hill South has no seniors on the roster and has struggled but will find enough footing to take out Joplin and finish 2^nd.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em><mark class="has-inline-color has-primary-color">Pool E</mark></em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Nixa 24-3</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Catholic 16-7-2</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Lutheran St. Charles 15-13-2</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Pool Prediction: </strong>Nixa should have no issues in this pool as they are one of the top teams in Class 5 and [player_tooltip player_id='495297' first='Paige' last='Pearcy'] is a tough libero to put the ball down against. Catholic and Lutheran will battle in 3 with the Fighting Irish taking 2^nd.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em><mark class="has-inline-color has-primary-color">1^st Place Pool</mark></em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Eureka</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Ozark</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Liberty</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Lafayette</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Nixa</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Pool Prediction:</strong> This will be a fun pool on Saturday, and I see Lafayette pulling through to win the title. Ozark has enough to get past the others to finish 2^nd. Nixa takes 3^rd, Liberty 4^th and Eureka 5^th.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em><mark class="has-inline-color has-primary-color">2^nd Place Pool</mark></em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Greenwood, AR</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Borgia</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Jefferson City</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Park Hill South</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Catholic</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Pool Prediction:</strong> This pool is evenly matched, and Jefferson City will keep a hot streak alive to win the 2^nd place finisher pool. Followed by Borgia, Catholic, Park Hill South, and Greenwood, AR.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong><em><mark class="has-inline-color has-primary-color">3^rd Place Pool</mark></em></strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Eldon</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Rogersville</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Joplin</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Lutheran</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Central</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Pool Prediction:</strong> Lutheran and Eldon will be the top two finishers in the 3^rd place pool finishers. Lutheran will win the pool followed by Eldon, Rogersville, Joplin, and Central.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->