BLAND — A sweet ending.

That was the goal Friday night for Misti Rutledge’s seventh-grade Owensville Dutchgirl volleyball team going into their final regular-season match on the road in western Gasconade County against Bland’s Lady Bears.

Entering the match with a 15-0 record, Owensville looked to add their team to the list of undefeated middle school volleyball teams.

Trailing 1-0 early in both sets, the orange and black quickly turned those deficits into significant leads before going on to sweep Bland’s Lady Bears in two sets by scores of 25-10 and 25-7 capping a perfect 16-0 season of seventh-grade volleyball.

Opening the match with a service error, Owensville tied the score with a kill from Clarice Krupp before another rare service error gave Bland a 2-1 lead.

Reece Hampton record a kill to tie the match at 2-2 sending Krupp behind the serving line.

Rattling off nine points in a row, the Dutchgirls suddenly found themselves with an 11-2 lead near the midway point of game one.

Trading errors with the Lady Bears over the next few points, Owensville now had a 16-7 lead with Mya Vandegriffe taking her turn behind the serving line.

Recording two aces over the next four points, Vandegriffe helped the Dutchgirls build their lead into double digits at 20-7 late in game one.

Adding to her nine-point run earlier in game one, Krupp closed out game one with an ace moving the orange and black one set away from an undefeated season.

Trading errors to open game two, Myla Lauth broke the 1-1 tie with three service points in a row helping the Dutchgirls to an early 4-1 lead in the second set.

Trading points on errors, Owensville now had a 5-2 lead with Lily Sample stepping behind the serving line.

Serving three aces over the next four points, Sample helped the Dutchgirls boost their lead up to 9-2.

Trading service errors with the Lady Bears, Krupp found herself back on serving duty with her orange and black squad leading 10-3.

Between her four service points and two kills from Vandegriffe, Owensville now had a commanding 14-3 lead midway through the second set from western Gasconade County.

After service errors by both teams, Carly Copeland got to take a turn behind the serving line for the Dutchgirls.

Two aces over the next three points helped push OMS’ advantage to 18-4.

Aces from Kimber Mayberry and Vandegriffe led to Lauth serving the final point of the match finishing off Owensville’s perfect 16-0 season.

Coming into the match with wins over Linn, Steelville and Sullivan earlier in the week, Jamie Ridenhour’s eighth-grade Dutchgirls looked to end their season on a four-match winning streak.

Winning game one 25-22 over the Lady Bears, Owensville appeared on their way to doing so.

Bland’s Lady Bears had other ideas.

Mistakes by the Dutchgirls opened the door for Bland to take game two 25-15 forcing a third set to decide the winner of the match.

Leading 7-5 midway through the winner-take-all third set, Owensville saw Bland outscored them 10-3 before falling to the Lady Bears in three sets by scores of 22-25, 25-15 and 15-10.

Overcoming an early 4-0 deficit in game one, the Dutchgirls got service points from Clara Julius and Emma Benton helping them take a 7-6 lead before a service error tied the set at 7-7.

Trading the lead with the Lady Bears throughout the majority of the first set, Owensville grabbed a 21-19 lead late before a pair of Addi Scheer aces eventually helped the Dutchgirls take game one.

Behind Julius’ serving, Owensville jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in game two looking to close out the match in two sets.

Leading 6-4 after a myriad of errors by both teams, Owensville saw Bland rattle off seven unanswered points leaving the Dutchgirls trailing the Lady Bears 11-6.

Service points from Julius and Ella Adkison-Farmer cut the deficit to 13-12 before Bland outscored Owensville 13-2 the rest of the second set taking it 25-15 and sending the match to a deciding third game.

Down 2-1 early in game three, Julius served four points in a row giving the Dutchgirls a 5-2 lead.

Nursing a 7-6 lead midway through the third set, a Dutchgirl error sent Bland’s Adalyn Walters behind the serving line where she nearly served out the rest of the set.

Down 14-8, Scheer was able to serve two points cutting Owensville’s deficit to 14-10 before an error gave game three and the match to the host Lady Bears.