Lady Bulldogs look to carry momentum into state volleyball tourney

By Wynrick Smothers

UCA Sportswriting

After winning the 3A-Central District Tournament last week, the St. Joseph Lady Bulldogs are going into the Class 3A State Volleyball Tournament motivated.

St. Joseph (18-6), the top seed from the Central, will open state tournament play at Harrison Parks and Recreation on Tuesday at noon against Hoxie, fourth from the Northeast.

Luke Davis' Lady Bulldogs finished their regular season strong and carried that momentum into the district tournament, where they beat their conference nemesis, Atkins, in the final to take the No. 1 seed heading into the state tournament.

The Central Conference was a pretty tough one, but Davis knows that there will be tougher tasks once state begins.

“It’s usually the West and the Northeast; they are usually the stronger conferences,” he said.

He said St. Joseph would match up pretty well with the other teams in the field, and the Lady Bulldogs know if they can keep up the type of play they showcased throughout the majority of the regular season, they will be just fine.

“If we can play like we did in the district tournament, we’ll have a chance,” he said. “They played real well together and everybody contributed, so that’s what we are going to need. We can’t rely on one person to carry us. We are going to need all of them.”

A win over Hoxie would put the Lady Bulldogs in Wednesday's 4 p.m. quarterfinal. Semifinals are set for Thursday with the state finals to be played at Russellville on Saturday, Nov. 2. The Class 3A State Tournament is being hosted by Alpena.

All in all, he said he was pleased with his team's play to this point. But he wants to make sure his team does better than last year, when they lost to Bergman in the opening round.

“I’m definitely proud of the girls,” he said. “We talked about doing better than we did last year; we had a better record, we finished better in conference, and we finished better in the district tournament. They definitely improved and worked hard, so I’m proud of them for that.”

The Lady Bulldogs closed the regular season Thursday with a non-conference loss to Class 5A Sylvan Hills after the conclusion of the district tournament, 25-23, 25-17, 23-25, 25-22, 15-11.

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Bulldogs take basketball opener at Lisa Academy

By Hunter Brooks

UCA Sportswriting

The St. Joseph boys basketball team started the 2013-14 season off with a win Thursday, going on the road to defeat Lisa Academy, 64-50.

Bulldog coach Brent Bruich said his team was shaky in the season opener.

Senior Drake Cooper led the Bulldogs with 17 points. Junior Schrekenhofer added 16 points and sophomore William Fields added eight off the bench.

“I wasn’t displeased, but we have to execute better,” Bruich said. “We were really wild out there. (Lisa Academy) forced us to be into some bad situations, so I’m hoping it was just first-game jitters. I expect us to continue to improve.”

Senior point guard Landon Enderlin added six points.

"He’s been starting since sophomore year,” Bruich said. “He’s always been a leader by example, but he was the most vocal I’ve seen him. Cooper did a great job as well. They want to emphasize what I say in the huddle, and I enjoyed watching that.”

Bruich noted the new starters filled their roles after gaining experience last season.

“We did lose four starters, but off a team that won 31 games, I played 10 guys,” he said. “I had six guys playing in the game (Thursday) that played in almost every game last year. I saw some kids step into some new roles. They’re still learning, and some meet my expectations in those roles. For a first game, they did fine.”

St. Joseph next plays at County Line on Nov. 1. The Bulldogs' first home game will be Nov. 5 against Dermott.

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Bulldog basketball to open tonight at Lisa Academy

By Abigail Hodgson

UCA Sportswriting

Basketball season starts for the St. Joseph boys team tonight at Lisa Academy in Little Rock, and the Bulldogs are looking forward to another successful season, this time hoping to play past the first round of the Class 2A State Tournament.

Despite a 31-3 record and 2A-4 East conference and district championships, the Bulldogs fell to Bearden, 75-63, in the opening round of the state tournament last year.

The Bulldogs beat Pottsville, which went on to win the Class 4A state title, during the regular season. Their three losses were to Class 5A Greenbrier, Class 3A state champion Harding Academy and Bearden.

Brent Bruich is in his ninth year as head coach of his alma mater and is hungry to get back to the state tournament.

“Toward the end of the season last year we played very strong and took care of business,” Bruich said. “I am hoping my players can return back and go even farther this season.”

The lone returning starter is 5-9 senior point guard Landon Enderlin, who led the team in assists last year. Enderlin is expected to be a good leader again this season for the Bulldogs.

Other varsity returnees include 6-3 senior Drake Cooper, 6-2 junior Dylan Schrekenhofer, 5-11 junior Britt Storth, 6-0 senior Cole Schaefers, 5-11 senior Nash Nichols and 5-8 senior Taylor Schrekenhofer.

With these players returning, Bruich said he expected the Bulldogs to have great team chemistry and experience.

“Enderlin is our only returning starter, but a few of the boys coming back all got playing time last season,” Bruich said. “This will help our speed of play and communication on the court.”

Although they do have upperclassmen returning, the team is small in size and height. The tallest player is just 6-3, and many of the Bulldogs will be redefining their roles on the team this year.

“We have been emphasizing rebounding a lot,” Bruich said. “Because of our size, we really need to do a better job in that.”

Bruich said some important games of the season would be in the St. Joseph Classic in early December. Vilonia, Mayflower, Guy-Perkins, Marshall, Perryville, Hazen, and Lonoke are all coming to Conway for the tournament.  He said he hoped the non-conference schedule would prepare the Bulldogs for a great season.

“This is going to be a test for our team and although it’s a stacked preseason schedule, I think we will be that much more prepared for conference play,” Bruich said.

Volleyball team wins district title, takes top seed to state tournament

By Hunter Brooks

UCA Sportswriting

The St. Joseph volleyball team went 2-0 in the 3A-Central District Tournament, claiming the district championship Tuesday at Harding Academy. 

In the semifinals, the second-seeded Lady Bulldogs (16-5 overall) beat No. 3 seed Conway Christian in straight sets after an automatic bye to the semis. St. Joseph won,  25-11, 25-7, 25-13, to advance to the district championship match, defeating top-seeded Atkins in straight sets, 25-15, 25-13, 25-15.

With the win, the Lady Bulldogs will be the No.1 seed from the Central in next week’s Class 3A State Tournament. 

“It’s a huge boost heading into next week,” Coach Luke Davis said. “Especially for our seniors, I can’t say enough about them. We talked about being better each week, each match and they’ve done a great job. They deserve it and I couldn’t be more proud.”

By beating Atkins, the Lady Bulldogs avenged their only two conference losses of the season.

“I felt like we had the potential to beat them (Atkins),” Davis said. “Atkins is a great team. We needed everyone to contribute. We talk about playing our best games toward the end of the season and the girls did just that.”

St. Joseph will play a non-conference match at Sylvan Hills on Thursday before heading to the state tournament.

“I usually try to schedule a (match) after the district tournament just in case we make it to state,” Davis said. “If we wouldn’t have that, we would have a week off, and that’s just too long. So we’re in this match against a big school to prepare for the state tournament.”

Lady Bulldogs take 2nd seed to district volleyball tournament

By Hunter Brooks

UCA Sportswriting

The St. Joseph volleyball team will be the No. 2 seed when the 3A-Central District Tournament starts today at Harding Academy. 

The second seed gives the Lady Bulldogs an automatic bye to Tuesday’s semifinal (and with it an automatic berth to next week's Class 3A State Tournament). St. Joseph will play against the winner of third-seeded Conway Christian in its first match against the No. 6 and 7 teams. Atkins secured the top seed for the tournament and also has a bye to the semis.

St. Joseph finished the regular season 14-5 overall, 11-3 in conference play.

Coach Luke Davis said the team was looking forward to the district tournament.

“The team tried to get better all week in practice,” he said. “They’re trying to stay motivated because we want to go to the state tournament. The girls want to be one of those 16 teams that have a chance to win it all in the end.”

The Lady Bulldogs finished third in last year’s district tournament, thus drawing a No. 2 seed in the state tournament. Bergman prevailed in the first-round match, 25-17, 22-25, 21-25, 25-19, 15-6.

Davis said he changed up practice to prepare the Lady Bulldogs for what they will see in the post-season.

 “I brought in some older players this week to play against the current team,” Davis said. "We play against the junior varsity team almost daily, so this was a way they get in some different competition. The older girls hit pretty hard and kept the current ones on their toes.”

Should St. Joseph win Tuesday, it will play in the championship later that day. If the Lady Bulldogs lose, they would play against the loser of the other semifinal match in a consolation match to determine seeding for the state tournament.

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Enderlin 11th at Overall golf tournament

St. Joseph senior Landon Enderlin carded 42-38—80 over 18 holes at Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock last week to tie for 11th in the Arkansas High School Overall Golf Championship.

Enderlin won his third Class 2A state title to earn a berth to his fourth consecutive Overall. He finished state runner-up one year.

Luke Long of Fayetteville took a three-stroke win at PVCC as he shot 37-34—71. Austin Pike of Searcy was second with 38-36—74. Caleb Kubacak of Maumelle was third with 39-36—75, followed by Kyle Robinson of Shiloh Christian, 38-38—76; William Pollock of Episcopal Collegiate, 41-37—78; and a five-way tie for sixth (with 79) among Tripp Croom of Russellville, Kyle Covington of Jonesboro, Cameron McRae of Hot Springs Lakeside, Logan Solomon of Waldron and Luke Cornett of Concord.

The field of 21 included the top three finishers at each of the seven state tournaments.

Enderlin set for final round as Bulldog

By Abigail Hodgson

UCA Sportswriting

Landon Enderlin will play his last round of golf as a St. Joseph Bulldog Thursday at the Arkansas High School Overall Championship in Little Rock at Pleasant Valley Country Club.

After earning medalist honors in the Class 2A State Tournament last week, Enderlin is returning to the Overall for the fourth time. Having finished sixth last year with 43-38—81, he will join 20 other golfers in the field for 2013.

He will tee off at 8:50 a.m.

One thing Enderlin has to his advantage is experience. 

"It is more important than a district round or playoff round,” Enderlin said. "Especially when there are people out there watching you from colleges. I’m also representing St. Joseph.”

St. Joseph coach Chris Kordsmeier said Enderlin's experience would help him on the difficult course. 

“It’s one of the hardest courses in the state," Kordsmeier said. "He’ll want to compete and hopefully he will do good. I like his chances.”

Kordsmeier said he had enjoyed coaching Enderlin over the years and watching him grow into the man he is becoming.

“Personally, he’s a good kid and a fine young man,” Kordsmeier said. “He plays golf the right way. He doesn’t get frustrated and he keeps his head up. He has a good demeanor about himself.”

Enderlin has also enjoyed the relationship.

“I’ve had a good four years with him,” Enderlin said. “He has been a good coach.”

When asked about his favorite moments in coaching Enderlin, Kordsmeier mentioned being able to watch him and play and take him to tournaments.

“I know when he was a freshman and the first time to get to play in the state tournament he was a lot smaller than the other guys,” Kordsmeier said. “It was neat to see him compete and do really well and end up winning the championship.”

Of all the high school tournaments he has competed in, Enderlin also distinctively remembers the state tournament his freshman year.

“We went out to Turkey Mountain and we got out there and played a practice round,” Enderlin said. “The next morning it was like 30 degrees out and it was freezing cold. Every time you hit a shot, it stung you in the hand.

“I’m still thinking about it while it’s my last year. I think I could go play college golf but I’m not sure if I want to yet or not.”

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Volleyball finishes conference schedule 11-3

By Hunter Brooks

UCA Sportswriting

 The St. Joseph volleyball team closed 3A-Central conference play Tuesday by defeating Rose Bud in straights sets, 25-7, 25-13, 25-9.

The Lady Bulldogs finished with an 11-3 conference record, improving to 13-5 overall. St. Joseph clinched the second seed for the 3A-Central District Tournament, which starts Monday at Harding Academy. Having clinched the second seed, the Lady Bulldogs have a bye to Tuesday's semifinals, which automatically qualifies them for the Class 3A State Tournament.

“It was a good road victory for us,” St. Joseph coach Luke Davis said. “The team did a good job. We talked about Rose Bud, Conway Christian and Mayflower as being possible first matches for us in the district tournament, so we wanted to try to put doubt in their mind tonight if we end up seeing Rose Bud again.”

The Lady Bulldogs will play host to North Pulaski today before heading to the district tournament next Tuesday. Davis said while the conference season is over, the match matters to the team.

“(North Pulaski) is a bigger school,” he said. “That gets the girls motivated. They want to try and play with anybody to prove themselves. We lost a game to them in the summer, so I keep bringing that up for extra motivation.”

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Lady Bulldogs clinch second seed for district volleyball tournament

By Abigail Hodgson

UCA Sportswriting

The St. Joseph volleyball team clinched the second seed for the 3A-Central District Tournament on Monday after sweeping Mayflower, 25-14, 25-14, 25-11.

The Lady Bulldogs improved their overall record to 12-5 and conference record to 10-3.

“This was a big win for us,” coach Luke Davis said. “It sews up second place in conference and sends us to the tournament next week.”

A five-point streak midway through the first set moved the Lady Bulldogs ahead, and they clinched the set with another six-point streak. They began the second set with a seven-point run and were able to close it out after a five-point string. The third set also wasn’t a problem for St. Joe, which grabbed an early six-point streak and ended with seven unanswered points.

Junior outside hitter Holly Rega said she was proud of the team’s performance.

“I think we came out and did really well tonight,” Rega said. “We began the first set really good but became a little slow in the second set. Overall, I think we did well.”

The Lady Bulldogs have an automatic bye to the semifinals next Tuesday in the conference tournament. While the time and opponent will be determined by Monday’s results, the semifinal berth guarantees them a slot in the Class 3A State Tournament.

Similar to senior setter Rachel Briggler’s opinion from last week on needing to work on passes, Rega said that the team should focus on passing in sets and serve receive passes.

Davis pointed out that Briggler had a big impact in the match. She had 15 assists through the three-set sweep.

Rega said she hoped the team could break the Lady Bulldogs' recent state tournament history.

“We always lost the first (match) of the tournament,” Rega said. “We need to win the first (match) and see how it goes from there. Just like Coach told us tonight, we won 17 (matches) last year and tonight we won our 17^th of this season. We can only go up from here.”  

Lady Bulldogs roll over Riverview in three

By Abigail Hodgson

UCA Sportswriting

The St. Joseph volleyball team swept Riverview in three sets Thursday.

St. Joseph finished its last conference match of the week, increasing its overall record to 11-5 and its 3A-Central mark to 9-3.

Coach Luke Davis was happy to see the team show some talent on the serving line, something the Lady Bulldogs have been working on in practice all week.

“We had a lot of aces and that’s a big big plus," Davis said. "We’ve really been working on it and talking about it this week. As far as serving-wise, we can’t give them any freebies, and when you miss a serve that’s what you’re doing, so we’re really trying to work on that.”

Senior setter Rachel Briggler is confident in her team’s talent and ability but was a little disappointed in its performance against Riverview.

“We were a little unfocused because we knew this team and we knew that we have beat them before,” Briggler said. “But we weren’t as good as we should have been.”

In her final season as a Lady Bulldog, Briggler is trying to play her best every game to lead her team to the state tournament.

“I’m trying to play as good as possible, but sometimes you don’t play as good as you want to,” Briggler said. “I feel like we have done pretty good but we need to be getting better.”

In their third match of a three-day streak, the Lady Bulldogs showed no exhaustion. Davis hopes this prepares them if they make it to the state tournament.

“If you make it to the sate tournament, then you have to play three (matches) in a row,” Davis said. “We’re not guaranteed the state tournament, but I want the team to be practicing and playing like we are going to make it.”

Davis hopes his team can clinch the conference's second seed to automatically advance to the district tournament semifinals (with an automatic berth to the state tournament), unlike the third seed, which will have to play to make it to the semifinals.

When asked what was the most important thing the team needs to work on, Briggler said “passes.”

The Lady Bulldogs will close the regular season next week with their last three matches, beginning Tuesday. 

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Enderlin wins state golf title; Bulldogs take third

By Hunter Brooks

UCA Sportswriting

St. Joseph senior Landon Enderlin took home individual honors at the Class 2A State Boys Golf Tournament on Tuesday at Conway Country Club.

Enderlin shot 70, finishing atop a field of more than 60 players. It was Enderlin’s third individual state title in four years; he finished runner-up his junior year.

“What a career Landon has had,” St. Joseph coach Chris Kordsmeier said. “He’s done so much for our program. He’s a great player with an even better demeanor. He doesn’t get too mad or too happy, and that really helps the team. He’s a great leader and gives phenomenal effort.”

St. Joseph, the defending state champion, finished third in team play with a score of 269. Nash Nichols shot 98, while Braden Brorman shot 101 to round out the team score. Landon Bruich shot 103.

“I thought we played extremely well,” Kordsmeier said. “Playing at Conway Country Club gave us a slight advantage, but everybody has to play the same course and in the end, talent means more than the course. Our kids competed well and played the best they could. I’m very proud of the season we had.”

Buffalo Island Central won the team title with a score of 245. Cedar Ridge finished second, shooting 266, while Bigelow shot 275, coming in fourth.

Enderlin will play for the Arkansas High School Overall Championship, which brings together the top three individuals from each state tournament, at the Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock on Thursday.

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Lady Bulldogs cruise past Harding Academy

By Wynrick Smothers

UCA Sportswriting

St. Joseph's Lady Bulldogs defeated the Harding Academy Lady Wildcats in three sets Tuesday, 25-12, 25-9, 25-8.

St. Joseph added to its list of wins, increasing its overall record to 11-3 and 9-2 in the 3A-Central Conference.

Coach Luke Davis said this was exactly what he wanted.

“It’s a good start for the week; we have two more conference games this week,” he said. “We talked about really setting the tone for the week and not getting into any bad habits. Hopefully we can get better as the week goes on.”

The first set was the only one that the Lady Wildcats were able to surpass 10 points.

The start of the second set was a fairly quick one with St. Joseph jumping out to an 18-3 lead. During that stretch senior Meagan Briggler recorded four kills. Senior Madison Seiter and junior Holly Rega both recorded two.

The third set started with a bit more back-and-forth scoring before St. Joseph took off. Early errors kept the Lady Wildcats within striking distance, but not long after the 5-3 start to the third set, several Lady Wildcat errors and a couple of kills by St. Joseph eventually led to the 20-7 score. Junior Madeline Moix served for the next four points and senior Linzy Hoelzeman ended the match serving for the last one.

Davis was glad to see his team reach some milestones.

“I want them to get better, and the way we do that is we try to set little goals,” he said. “Tonight it was don’t let them score more than 10 points. (Harding Academy) scored 12 the first set but after that, (St. Joseph) did that, and that’s what they have to do, just stay focused.”

Senior Meagan Briggler is doing a good job leading the other Lady Bulldogs but said she felt she should be playing a little better.

“I played decent," she said. "I wish I had more kills and not so many out. We have five seniors on varsity so we are working as hard as we can to be the best that we can be so we can make it to state this year.”

The Lady Bulldogs will play Nemo Vista today at 4:30 and Riverview on Thursday at 5.

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Volleyball schedule changes

By Abigail Hodgson

UCA Sportswriting

St. Joseph's volleyball team did not play its scheduled match against Jessieville on Monday because of a   scheduling conflict.

The teams tried to reschedule the non-conference match for a later date; however, nearing the final two weeks of conference play, it was too difficult to fit in. St. Joseph will play three conference matches this week and three more next week.

Coach Luke Davis was looking forward to playing Jessieville.

           

“I really wanted to play tonight because it’s a team we could possibly be matched up against in the second round of the state tournament  [if we make it],” he said. “I heard they were a pretty good team, but it just didn’t work out.”

St. Joseph was set to play Nemo Vista last Tuesday, but that was also cancelled due to the death of a Nemo Vista seventh grader during the week.

The Lady Bulldogs did win the match against Conway Christian on Thursday, improving their record to 11-3 overall and 8-2 in the 3A-Central Conference.

           

St. Joseph has given up its two losses to Atkins, the conference leader, but the Lady Bulldogs were able to come back Thursday against CCS.

“We’ve only had one (match) so far, but after the Atkins game we talked to the girls about how we can’t win conference now,” Davis said. “There’s a big difference in second and third place in conference. We have to go back to work and get better to get second place and hopefully play Atkins in the (district tournament) championship.”

St. Joseph will play Harding Academy tonight at 5. The Nemo Vista match will be played on Wednesday starting at 4:30, and the Lady Bulldogs will play again Thursday against Riverview starting at 5.

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Bulldogs look to defend state golf title

By Wynrick Smothers

UCA Sportswriting

St. Joseph's boys golf team is getting set for another run at a state championship Tuesday at the Conway Country Club.

Around 30 schools will be represented but only 12 will compete for the Class 2A state title. St. Joseph golf Coach Chris Kordsmeier knows there will be some stiff competition heading into the tournament.

“Cedar Ridge and Buffalo Island Central will be tough opponents,” he said. “They both had good team scores coming into the tournament, and so did Spring Hill, which will be another good opponent.”

As Kordsmeier said, Conway Country Club is not an easy course to play. Although the course may not be a cakewalk, he is confident in his team’s ability to play well.

“Our kids have played on this course before with their families, so them being familiar with the course may help a bit," he said. "It’s also a game of golf, which means anything can happen on any given day.”

St. Joseph has its anchor player on the team once again in senior Landon Enderlin, who has plenty of experience in this tournament. He claimed the championship both his freshman and sophomore years and was the state runner-up last year.

Kordsmeier knows a lot will be going on in the players’ heads, but he said he felt whoever is able to keep their cool during the tournament will prevail.

“There will be a lot of nerves out there,” he said. “It will come down to whoever is patient while playing and doesn’t freak out; that will be who is successful.”

The field will also include Bigelow, Cedar Ridge, Buffalo Island Central, Magnet Cove, Gurdon, Parker’s Chapel, Spring Hill, Marked Tree, Mountainburg, East Poinsett County and Hackett.

The top three individuals from every classification will qualify for the Arkansas High School Overall Championship, which will be at the Pleasant Valley Country Club in Little Rock next week.

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