Lady Cardinals shut out undefeated Glendale

What was presumed to be a back-and-forth volleyball match in an away game Monday against a dominant Glendale team, the Webb City Cardinals proved the opposite.

Glendale’s Falcons, 5-0 on the season with only one set dropped, looked to make it a hill to climb. Webb City ultimately proved triumphant with a quick 3-0 sweep.

Set 1: 25-21

What started out as a competitive set, the Lady Cardinals began to inch away from the Lady Falcons. Marlee Harper’s back-to-back aces gave the team an early advantage. Glendale kept clawing back, but a strong defensive wall formed by Adelyn Maxwell and Harper prevented any sort of mometum the Falcons thought they had. Savannah Crane made a nice heads-up play as well, dumping it to an unsuspecting Falcons defense. Webb City took the first set following an intense rally. Avery Gardner and Allison Collard made some big digs to keep the rally alive.

Set 2: 25-15

This is where the Lady Cardinals got their momentum. All confidence was on them after taking the first set against Glendale. Savannah Crane again used her deception skills to dump the ball off to Glendale, tallying an early lead. Jaylee VanBecelaere showed off her strength, barely squeaking in the kill. It took deliberation by the line judges and down referee to determine her kill was in bounds. Closing out the set, Kaelyn Maxwell put her arm on display, putting the kill where the Lady Falcons couldn’t react.

Set 3: 26-24

It was all Glendale in this set, until the Lady Cardinals made a comeback in the nick of time. Leading 20-15, all Glendale had to do was close it out to get back into the game. Kaelyn Maxwell had a different plan. She made a kill that couldn’t be corraled to help lead the comeback attempt. Gardner helped with an ace to bring more momentum. It took extra points, but the Cardinals flipped the script from Crane’s dump off and Harper’s shovel pass to force Glendale into an attack error.

Avery Gardner led the team with 26 digs. Jaylee VanBecelaere and Savannah Crane tied for 11.

Marlee Harper had 12 kills, with Jaylee VanBecelaere and Kaelyn Maxwell tied for 7.

Crane handed out 31 assists and 3 aces.

In the Cardinal Dome Tuesday, the Cardinals extended their winning streak to five. They defeated Central 27-25, 25-14 and 25-13.

After the Branson/Camdenton/Webb City/Willard Scramble on Friday at Camdenton, the Cardinals will be back in the Dome Tuesday against Kickapoo and Thursday against Republic.