NMS volleyball fares well in tournament play

The Nevada Middle School seventh and eighth grade volleyball teams had mixed results in tournament play over the weekend.

Head coach Marsha Hooper's seventh graders went to the Joplin North tournament on Sunday, Oct. 2, and lost to Frontenac, 25-7 and 25-21, before knocking off Joplin South, 25-23 and 25-17, to finish pool play in a four-way tie. Hooper's squad went on to play for fifth place and defeated College Heights 25-9 and 25-13.

Head coach Trudy Fleeman's eighth graders had much better luck on Saturday, Oct. 1, as they defeated St. Mary's Colgan, 25-21 and 25-14, Pittsburg B, 25-10 and 25-17, and Lamar, 25-10 and 25-9, to come out of pool play undefeated. Fleeman's squad went on to defeat Columbus in the semifinals, 25-6 and 25-11. In the finals, Morgan McNeley served 18 consecutive points to start the match against St. Mary's Colgan and Fleeman's squad never looked back, winning the match and with it, the tournament championship, 25-10 and 25-5.

Both seventh and eighth grade squads were set to be back in action on Monday night at Joplin East Middle School, but those results were not yet available at press time.