Steelville High School’s varsity volleyball team won three straight matches in as many days from Sept. 22 to Sept. 24 against Kingston, Plato and Bourbon respectively. The Lady Cardinals were dominant in the three matches, winning nine out of 11 sets played.

Steelville now has a 8-4-2 record as they enter the back half of their regular season. All matches are detailed below. The Lady Cardinals junior varsity team earned second place in the Sept. 26 Cuba JV Volleyball Tournament. Cuba finished in first place and Bunker took third.

Steelville played in Licking Sept. 29, which will be detailed in next week’s edition. The Lady Cardinals will host Cuba Oct. 1 in its Pink Out Game, which will raise funds for a community member’s battle with cancer. The Red and White will then play in Belle Oct. 2, host Viburnum Oct. 5, play in Dixon Oct. 7, host Belle Oct. 8 and compete Oct. 10 in the Belle Varsity Volleyball Tournament.   

Sept. 22 vs. Kingston

After having two days off following a marathon day in the Sept. 19 Cuba Varsity Volleyball Tournament, the Lady Cardinals were back in action in a home matchup against the Kingston Lady Cougars. Despite taking fourth place, Steelville had a 6-2 set record and a 26 point scoring advantage in the Cuba Tourney and continued its strong play against Kingston.

The Lady Cougars struck first, defeating Steelville 25-19 in the first set. Steelville coach Jill Simily clearly inspired her team during the break in between sets and the Lady Cardinals quickly seized control of the match.

Steelville won the second set 25-19 before dominating the final two sets 25-12 and 25-13 to move to 6-4-2 on the season. Kingston fell to 6-9-1 with the loss. Steelville senior Emeri Perkins didn’t play in the match.

Senior Gracie Mae Boone played a strong all-around game for Steelville, notching 15 digs, 10 receptions, seven kills and four service aces. Kylie Livesay had 12 assists, a team-high nine kills and five service aces. Kaylin Gillam registered 12 receptions, nine kills and eight digs.

Jazmyn Hurd tallied a game-high 17 receptions and added 11 digs. Claire Settles recorded a team-high 12 assists and had five digs. Sophomore Vivian West had six assists and five kills in her first significant varsity playing time thus far this season. Sylvia Davis was Steelville’s top server, racking up a game-high eight service aces while chipping in four kills and three digs. 

Sept. 23 vs. Plato

The Red and White played the following evening at Steelville Middle School against a formidable Plato Eagles squad. The beginning of the match was a back and forth battle as Steelville won the first set 25-20 and Plato took the second set 25-23.

The Lady Cardinals got stronger as the match went on as they did the night before in Kingston, winning the third set 25-20 before dominating the fourth set with a 25-14 win to earn the match victory. Steelville moved to 7-4-2 with the victory and Plato fell to 7-4-1 with the loss.

Perkins returned to the court and was seemingly everywhere, registering 26 digs, 20 receptions and a game-high 18 kills. Hurd was also especially active, totaling 32 receptions 30 digs and three service aces.

Livesay was busy getting her teammates involved, recording a season-high 25 assists while chipping in eight digs, five service aces and four kills. Gillam added 15 kills and nine digs and Settles chipped in 14 assists.

Steelville’s junior varsity played one set and earned a 25-19 victory. 

Sept. 24 vs. Bourbon

Despite playing in its third game in as many days, the Lady Cardinals looked full of energy against the Bourbon Lady Warhawks. Steelville’s junior varsity played first and played well, earning 25-7 and 25-19 wins to pick up a match victory in straight sets.

  The Lady Cardinals’ varsity squad picked up where its JV left off, winning 25-16, 25-23 and 25-13 to earn its eighth victory of the season in straight sets.

Hurd had a game-high 21 receptions and added seven digs. Livesay registered team-highs of 15 assists and eight service aces. Perkins had 11 receptions and 10 kills, Davis tallied six digs and four service aces, Gillam added eight kills and four service aces and Settles chipped in eight assists.