BEARCATS CLINCH 3RD IN DISTRICT

It wasn’t without some oddness but the Booneville Bearcat volleyball squad swept West Fork Tuesday night to wrap up the three seed for the 3A-4 district tournament to be held next week in Charleston.

What wasn’t odd was that it was a Karmen Kent kill to clinch the 25-18, 28-26, 25-18 sweep of the Tigers.

Kent, who also started the match with a kill, was dominant throughout the night with a dozen kills.

She also dropped in consecutive aces in the first set to push the Bearcats to a 9-4 lead and after it grew to 10-4 West Fork took a time out.

The lead fluctuated between four and six through 17-12 before a kill by Kent, a point after an acrobatic save by Teagen McMaster, and an ace by Kent pushed it to 20-12.

West Fork trimmed it back to five at 23-18 but a kill by Emma Mikles and an ace from Lilly Downs wrapped up the set.

Kent scored the first Bearcat point in the second set with a kill that tied it at 1-1, which would be indicative of the entire set.

West Fork led by as many as three at 6-3 but a kill by Kent, another by Mikles, and an ace from Kent tied it and there was no more than a two point differential until a kill by Sara Ulmer and another point from Downs made it 21-17.

The Tigers drew even at 22 and had a chance to close it out but a Kent return was placed perfectly to tie it.

West Fork again had a chance to end it but a Kent kill that got the line tied it at 25-25. A third opportunity for the Tigers would be a service error that tied it at 26-26.

From there the Bearcats scored twice, the final point on a kill by Ellie Smith (shown) and were up two sets to none.

Kent started the third set with a kill and an ace from Smith made it 2-0 and the Bearcats never trailed.

A kill from Kent, an ace by Kent, a point from Smith and another on a kill by Shelbie Myers in one series had the Bearcats up 9-3 and induced a time out.

West Fork got within 13-12 before a serve into the net and it was 15-13 when Smith got a third hit over the I-beam without touching it and the Bearcats to the point.

A couple of Kent kills had it to 19-14 when a return off of McMaster got stuck in the ceiling for a Tiger point.

But 19-15 was as close as it would get the rest of the night.

A kill by Ulmer had the Bearcats within two points of a win and a soft one from Lunsford preceded the Kent kill to end it.

The Bearcats will close out the regular season Thursday when they host Hackett.