Bourbon High School’s volleyball team won two of its last three regular season matches to conclude its regular season with a 10-17-5 record heading into the Class 2 District 7 Tournament at Steelville High School.

Bourbon won home games over Viburnum Oct. 12 and Dixon Oct. 15 while dropping a Oct. 13 road match to Steelville. 

The fourth-seeded Lady Warhawks played fifth-seeded Belle Oct. 20 in the quarterfinals, which will be detailed in next week’s edition along with the rest of their district match ups. The winner of that match will take on number one-seeded Licking at 5 p.m. on Oct. 21. Third-seeded Plato played sixth-seeded Dixon in the quarterfinals and the winner will take on second-seeded Steelville the following evening.

Oct. 12 vs. Viburnun

The Lady Warhawks welcomed the Viburnum Lady Blue Jays into town for Pink Out Night, where Bourbon raised funds through a silent auction for a local community member’s battle with cancer.

The first set was a back-and-forth battle where each team exchanged points. After the score was tied at 24, Bourbon was able to score two straight points to emerge with a 26-24 victory. The Lady Warhawks were able to get in rhythm in the next two sets, earning 25-17 and 25-18 victories to win the match in straight sets. Bourbon improved to 9-16-5 with the win and Viburnum dropped to 3-18-1 with the loss.

Juniors Lauryn Hercules and Kenzii Withorn played strong all-around games to lead the Lady Warhawks. Hercules tallied 16 digs, 15 receptions and nine kills. Withorn recorded 12 digs, 11 kills and 11 receptions. Senior Allie Sutton was busy getting her teammates involved, registering a season-high 30 assists. Sophomore Brianna Bouse added nine digs and nine receptions.

Oct. 13 vs. Steelville

Bourbon traveled to Steelville the following afternoon to take on the Lady Cardinals for its last Gasconade Valley Conference (GVC) match of the regular season. The Lady Warhawks ran into a Steelville team who lost to Cuba the night before and appeared prime to take out their frustrations on the Blue and White.

The first set was close for the most part, until Steelville went on a run and pulled away with a 25-14 win. The last two sets were all Lady Cardinals, who picked up 25-10 and 25-17 wins to earn a sweep in straight sets.

Withorn registered five digs and two kills to pace Bourbon. Freshman Abbi Payne had a game-high five service aces along with three digs, two receptions and two kills.

In the first match up of the evening, Bourbon’s junior varsity team lost the opening set 25-21, won the second set 25-21 before falling 15-11 in the third and final set to drop the match.

Oct. 15 vs. Dixon

The Lady Warhawks hosted the Dixon Lady Bulldogs for its regular season and home finale. Bourbon controlled the first set, earning a 25-12 victory. The second set was a highly competitive back-and-forth affair. After each team struggled to score two points in a row, Bourbon was able to string together consecutive points to win a 28-26 marathon set. The third set was also close, but the Lady Warhawks were able to secure a 25-20 victory to win the match in straight sets. Statistics weren’t provided for this match.