Every year our volleyball team travels to SEMO in Cape Girardeau, MO for the Dig for Life Tournament. While the tournament makes the girls go head-to-head in competition, it allows them to come together and give opportunities to women in need. Founded by SEMO volleyball coach Cindy Gannon in 2000, the event raises money for women who can not afford their mammogram screenings. Since its beginning, over 6,000 mammograms have been provided for local women.
Mid-day Friday, September 8, the team made their first trip to the court. Beginning their evening, they played Dexter in two sets. During the first set, they won 25-21, and at the end of the second, the score was 25-14. This started their winning streak for this year’s tournament. Moving onto the second game, the team was up against Winona. Unlike the first game, Winona was a close call. Ending the first set, the girls received a score of 25-23, and they gained 25-21 in the second set, continuing their winning streak.
Getting their second day started, the team wore their pink jerseys in support of the foundation’s cause. Starting the first game at 9:30, the girls went up against Cape Notre Dame. The starting players included senior Ava Penuel, PJ Reutzel (11), Kinleigh Gresham (11), Amelia Miller (11), Alli Francis (11), and Maggie Wood (9). With Cape Notre Dame serving first, the girls kept strong. By the end of the first half, the score rested at 25-22. Moving onto the second half, the girls were neck and neck. Keeping within only a couple of points of the other teams, our girls kept their heads up. Finally, the game ended with the girls winning 25-21. Winning their third game of the tourney, the girls had a short break before moving on to Lesterville. Starting strong, the girls were up 14-7 about 10 minutes into the first set. Lesterville caught up eventually, before Maggie, PJ, and Ava took them down with a winning slam. At the end of the set, the girls were 25-22.
Quickly moving onto the second set, our girls served first; the opening volley was executed by Ava Penuel. Throughout the game the girls kept their hits strong, dominating over Lesterville. PJ Reutzel, Kinleigh Gresham, and Ava Penuel made many of the demanding hits within the first ten points. All points were assisted by Maggie Wood (9) and Gabbie McFadden (12), and Alli Francis (11) served all 10 points. 15 minutes in, they were up 11-2. Maggie Wood (9) made many savage hits, scoring another five points and keeping the score moving up to land at 16-9. Leading up to their final points, Livee McFadden (10) and Ava Stevens (10) subbed in for Kinleigh and PJ. The final point was made with contributions from Maggie, Livee, and Amelia Miller. At the end of their match, the score was 25-14, no doubt keeping up with their wins.
After an hour of downtime, the girls got right back into it going up against South Iron. After beating them at home, the girls knew it was going to be a hard-fought game. Ava Penuel (12) served first, receiving the 4 beginning points of the game. Keeping the game close, the score was often one or two off from each other. Both teams were neck and neck for both sets, and the atmosphere was tense. The first set moved very fast, lasting only about thirty minutes. Getting close to the end of the first set, they were 23-19. Ava made a ferocious serve, earning them their 24th point. South Iron missed a set, getting the girls their winning first set point, the score ending 25-21.
Starting their second set, Ava Penuel served first, receiving the team’s first point. Alli Francis served next, allowing the team their next four points. After 6 points Amelia Miller (11) and Gabbie McFadden (12) rotated out. For the next 5 points, serves were made by PJ Reutzel (11), Kinleigh Gresham (11), and Maggie Wood (9). Keeping up 14-8, senior Ava Penuel made many harsh moves, keeping the game moving. Every single girl displayed very jarring moves, allowing their score to rise to 17-10. Close to the end of the game, Kinleigh and PJ made many dominating scores. The final point was made when South Iron missed returning the ball over the net, bringing the tally to 25-15. This win allowed the team to move up to the quarter-finals.
On the move to their fourth game, the girls started off warming up like always. During warm-ups, both teams noticed each other’s presence. Both had won all of their games; this one could move them to the semi-finals. Once the game had begun, the teams stayed tied with each other. Both made hard serves, never getting off of each other. Keeping a constant game, neither team scored for almost 2 minutes. As the game went on, a spike missed by Central and a spike made by Ava Penuel (12) helped raise our score. Getting the game moving, our score rose to 10-10. However, on our first time out, they were down 12-17. Having to keep the winning streak alive, PJ Retzuel (11) was set up to serve. Doing so, the Lady Cats score shot up to 18-18. With Kinleigh Gresham (11) serving next, she helped to bring in another point, keeping us 19-24. However, as the first set ended, the girls had their first loss of the tourney with 21-25. With a chance to bring themselves back, they went into the second set with high hopes.
Their first point was made by Kinleigh Gresham (11), who made a set that Central could not return. A switch out of Amelia Miller (11) and Gabbie McFadden (12) with Gabbie up to serve allowed the team to move up 6-9. With a tough spike from Kinleigh, the girls received another point. After a spike made by Ava Penuel (12) allowed them another point, Amelia and Gabbie were switched out again. A tough hit from PJ Retuzel (11) moved the girls up to 10-15. With Central in the 20’s, Coach Retuzel called a time-out. At 16-21 on the board, the team tried their hardest to get the score up. Ava served and the team received 5 more points. However, with a fumble on the net, the girls lost their first and final game of the event, 21-25.
While the girls did not make it to the semi-finals, they worked tirelessly both days to win their six games. When asked about her favorite moment of the day, Ava Penuel (12) said that it was “when we beat Cape Notre Dame, and we didn’t even play our greatest.” Head Coach Reutzel and assistant coaches Audrey Chazelle-Tipton and Carson Penuel were proud of their team. The girls knew that they had given it everything they had, and at the end of the day, they hugged each other and got ready to rest up before their three games in the upcoming week. We would like to thank the girls for all of their hard work and amazing job this weekend. FHS students wish you Lady Blackcats the best of luck in continuing this season!
