ND throws senior power at Leopold

The Notre Dame seniors said goodbye to their home court and capped off their regular season Thursday, handing Leopold its fifth loss with a 25-15, 25-19 victory.

After changing the lineup to include all five seniors -- Emily Beurhle, Valaree Rutherford, Sommer McCauley, Amanda Dirnberger and Kristen Boos -- the Bulldogs jumped to a quick start and never looked back

"That's not the normal lineup that we use, and all the seniors played all the way around," Notre Dame coach Tara Stroup said. "They were ready to go tonight."

The Bulldogs are ranked No. 1 in the SEMO Top 10 poll. Leopold is No. 5.

Notre Dame led 24-10 in the first game but allowed the Wildcats to rally for five points. Leopold led 8-3 early in the second game, then led 15-12 before the Bulldogs scored three straight points to tie it at 15. Leopold (21-5) scored twice after that but never saw the lead again against Notre Dame (28-3-1).

Beurhle led the Bulldogs' offensive attack with nine kills and four digs.

"We worked well together," Beurhle said. "Our passes were really good, and we hit the ball very well and they couldn't return it. It just all worked out."

McCauley had 17 assists, while Dirnberger, who played setter for only the second time in her career, provided eight assists and four digs. Laura Browne had six kills and Rutherford had five. Lauren Mehner added seven digs.

"We really didn't play well tonight, but Notre Dame has a good team. They have a lot of talent," Leopold coach Leanne Huffman said. "I knew going into the game that they were going to be tough."

Both teams are seeded first and begin district competition Tuesday. Notre Dame will play at Dexter while Leopold will travel to Oak Ridge.

"Dexter is seeded second, but we've never played there before, so it will be different," Stroup said. "They'll have all their people there."

Notre Dame's junior varsity won in two games.-- Mark Unterreiner

Jackson 23-26-25, Poplar Bluff 25-24-18

Jackson closed out its regular season with a tough comeback win on the road.

Malerie Goodman had nine kills and 10 blocks, while Linden Hahs had six kills and 12 digs to lead the Indians (22-8-1).

Jennifer Ferrell added 12 digs for Jackson, Jodie Gipson recorded 19 assists, and Laura Johnson contributed 12 points and eight digs.

Jackson's JV (24-3) closed its season with a 25-8, 25-14 victory.

JV SOCCER

Central Tournament

Central won its own tournament, beating Notre Dame 2-0 and handing the Bulldogs their first loss of the season.

Tyson Whiteside and Cole Crist scored goals for the Tigers (13-2-2) while Sam Bornstein had an assist. Goalkeeper Jackson Hill recorded the shutout.

Poplar Bluff finished third after beating Carbondale, Ill., in a penalty kick shootout. Jackson claimed fifth place with a 3-1 win over Sikeston, and Farmington downed Kennett for seventh place.

Scoring for Jackson were Cory Murphy, Andrew Schlick and Chris Shelton. Steven McKinney had two assists and Shelton added one.-- From staff reports