From staff reports

sports@joplinglobe.com

Verona held off McAuley Catholic down the stretch in the second set and defeated the Warriors 25-10, 25-21 Thursday night in an Ozark 7 Conference volleyball match in the Warriors’ gymnasium.

The Warriors (3-6) rallied to pull into a 21-21 deadlock in the second set on a Sonya Kilongkilong kill. But Verona scored the final four points, including kills by Jessica Lombard and Jori Dodson and a Dodson block to account for the last three points.

“We played better,” Wildcats head coach Brad Stewart said. “We started hot, had some sickness, had a cool streak.... The first game we looked like world beaters, the second game was kind of shaky. But that’s volleyball, too.”

Tristan Carrasquillo led Verona with seven kills, and Jessica Smith served five aces. Beth Bigham had 15 assists, and Jenna Chadd led the defense with 16 digs.

McAuley’s leaders were Brittany Street with six kills, Kilongkilong with seven digs and Jae Stephens with seven assists.

“I don’t think we came to play,” McAuley head coach Amber Obert said. “We have been playing our hearts out. We have been playing so hard ... we didn’t come to play tonight until the last 10 points. And the other team could not hit a ball into the net if they tried.”

The Warriors play Monday night at Golden City before entertaining Southwest on Tuesday.

Glendale hurdles Joplin

The Eagles fell to 1-3 in the Ozark Conference with the 25-23, 25-11 loss to the visiting Falcons.

Joplin leaders included Emilee Dailey (five kills), Autumn Lewis (four assists) and Jessie McMullen (six digs).

Joplin entertains McDonald County on Tuesday with the freshman match opening the tripleheader at 5 p.m.

College Heights clips Jasper

JASPER, Mo. — The Cougars, who lost 25-25 in Game 2, prevailed 25-16 in Game 1 and 25-19 in the decisive game to take a Spring River Valley Conference showdown.

CHC, 4-0 in the SRVC, received three blocks apiece from Kelsi Bodine and Makayla Fuller, 13 assists apiece from Ashley Sauer and Missy Sterling, 12 kills from Brittany Eppright and nine digs from Stefany Benson.

Jasper, 3-1, was paced by Candice Talbot’s 20 kills and nine blocks. Kara Probert added 25 assists, Marisa Bausinger 10 kills and Katie Housh seven aces.

Mountaineers triumph

CARL JUNCTION, Mo. — Mount Vernon pulled out a 25-23, 22-25, 29-27 win in the Big 8 Conference opener for both teams.

Mount Vernon leaders included Abby Hansen (eight kills), April Atkeson (29 digs), Kenzie Williams (15 assists) and Calli Baker (two blocks).

The Bulldogs got three blocks from Lindsey Gordon, 28 digs from Desiree Felker, 28 assists and three aces from Katelyn Joyner and 10 kills from Mackenzie Valenti.

Liberal beats Cavaliers

LIBERAL, Mo. — Kaycia Fry had seven kills, Makensy Massa added four aces and the Liberal Bulldogs registered a 25-23, 25-19 win over the Thomas Jefferson Cavaliers.

Kasey Selbey added two aces, seven assists and two digs for the Bulldogs, who improved to 8-7 with the win.

Thomas Jefferson got three kills and three blocks from Sally Currance while Hally Reisenny added four blocks.

TENNIS

Eagles finish fifth

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Joplin, according to coach Sean McWilliams, placed a disappointing fifth in the Ozark Conference Tournament at the Cooper Tennis Complex.

Kickapoo and Glendale finished 1-2 with 42 and 37 points, respectively. Lebanon won the tussle for third place among the 10 teams with 27 to 25 for Rolla and 24 for Joplin.

Joplin’s Rachel Lazenby, seeded No. 1, lost 6-3, 7-5 to Kickapoo’s Mackenzie Rozell in the first flight of singles. Ericka Freeborn placed eighth at No. 2 singles. Rozell avenged an 8-1 loss.

Eagles Denise Moreno and Hannah Ingle, seeded third at No. 1 doubles, finished in that position. Siri Ancha and Lexi Willcoxon were seventh at No. 2.

“I’m a little disappointed with our performance,” McWilliams said. “I thought our players were prepared to come out and perform at their highest level. We didn’t do that today. We have work to do before district competition.

“We have some time, though. We’ll be more focused and we’ll come out with more intensity.”

Joplin will try today to defend its Thomas Jefferson Invitational title.

SOFTBALL

Webb City 11, Nevada 0

WEBB CITY, Mo. — Nicole Hudson, who drove in five runs, supported the pitching of freshman right-hander Laney Kneib.

Kneib allowed one hit — a single by Andi Alexander — struck out six and walked none. Hudson, whose three-run homer capped a four-run fifth to prematurely end the game, also doubled.

The Cardinals received a bases-loaded triple from Brooklyn Farrell. Brianna Baker joined Hudson, who was 2-for-2, and Farrell with two hits.

Webb City, 20-3, and Nevada will debut at 3:15 p.m. today in the Carthage Tournament. The teams, win or lose, will again play at 4:45.

Pierce City 4, CHC 1

PIERCE CITY, Mo. — Junior first baseman Grace Parrigon broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run triple in the sixth inning to spark the Eagles. Parrigon scored the game’s final run on a passed ball.

Freshman Sara Stearns threw a two-hitter for Pierce City (8-13) and struck out 12 CHC hitters.

The Eagles wrap up the regular season Tuesday with a game at Diamond.

Wyatt, Neosho beat Bulldogs

NEOSHO, Mo. — Shea Wyatt struck out 11 and lead the Neosho Wildcats to a 7-3 win over the Carl Junction Bulldogs at Crowder College.

Wyatt gave up just five hits, allowing a lone run in the fourth and two in the sixth.

Neosho, led by Kreslee Ketchum, scored single runs in the first, second and third innings and then scored three in the fifth to push its lead to 6-1.

Ketchum was 3-for-3 with a double and two RBI.

GOLF

Natalie Bird, Bulldogs win

CARL JUNCTION, Mo. — Bird, a senior, shot a 6-over-par 42 to lead Carl Junction past Nevada 204-210.

Leading scorers for Nevada, wth 51 apiece over the front nine at Briarbrook, were Lakyn Mansfield and Emily DeBrine.

SOCCER

Eagles 3, Parkview 2

Joplin overcame a pair of penalty-kick goals and tripped visiting Parkview in an Ozark Conference game.

The Eagles (8-4 overall, 3-3 Ozark Conference) trailed 1-0 at intermission.

“We missed our penalty kick in the first half,” said coach Ed Miller. “We played very hard in the first half and had nothing to show for it. But we came back and scored two right off the bat in the second half.”

Goals by Max Duncan, assisted by Taylor Six, and Parker Maher, assisted by Duncan. made it 2-1. The Vikings tied the match at the 50-minute mark on Tim Griffin’s second penalty kick.

Joplin’s go-ahead goal came five minutes later. Samuel Yount was assisted by Maher.

“John (McDermid) came up big in the last couple of minutes (with saves),” Miller said. “They had a couple of point-blank shots.”

McDermid was credited with nine saves.

Joplin entertains Carl Junction on Monday.

Webb City 2, Aurora 0

AURORA, Mo. — Webb City (3-9) capitalized on first-half goals by Isaiah Cadena and P.J. Armstrong.

Aurora, 2-12, plays Tuesday at Cassville.

Thomas Jefferson 8, CHC 2

Alex Oserowsky had four goals and an assist to spark the Cavaliers past College Heights.

Thomas Jefferson, which led 6-1 at the half in hiking its record to 4-5-1, also received goals from Alex Motch, David Evans, Jordan Stauffer and Grant Oserowsky.

Micah Sunderburgh and Nathan Dudley had goals for the visiting Cougars.