Defeating St. James in three sets last Tuesday night in opening-round action of the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MSHSAA) Class 3, District 9 Tournament at Cuba High School, Jamie Ridenhour’s Owensville Dutchgirls earned another shot at St. Clair’s Lady Bulldogs in the district semifinals last Thursday.

Owensville was looking to avenge a loss in three sets to the Lady Bulldogs back on Sept. 23.

Dropping the match in three sets by scores of 25-18, 25-21 and 25-19, Owensville saw their season end at 16-18-2 while St. Clair advanced to Monday night’s district championship match against the top-seed Sullivan Lady Eagles.

In first-round action against St. James, Owensville posted their second win of the season over the Lady Tigers in three sets by scores of 25-8, 25-7 and 25-16.

Lilly Sample led the Dutchgirls with 15 kills while Rachel Koepke and Riley Grube nearly reached double digits in kills with nine and eight respectively.

Reece Hampton served up a team-high six aces to go along with three aces each from Jenna Hoffman and Brailie Crosby.

Ava Schulte added a pair of aces while Clara Julius also served up one ace.

Joleen Braun, Koepke and Grube each had a block in the match for the orange and black against St. James.

Sample and Julius paced Owensville with six digs each followed by five from Hoffman and four from Kaydence Gibson.

Clarice Krupp, Schulte and Crosby each chipped in three digs.

Schulte dished out a team-high 15 assists while Clara Brune and Hampton nearly made it three Dutchgirls in double digit assists finishing with nine apiece.

Editor’s Note: Statistics from the St. Clair match were not available at press time.