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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