Pattonville Prairiland Advances Over Alpine, 15-4, 15-10

Defending 2A champion Pattonvile Prairiland set up a rematch of last year's classic championship with Leon Jewett, with a methodical 15-4, 15-10 win over Alpine.

Prairiland (39-4) outlasted Leon Jewett last year 16-14, 6-15, 17-15 for the title and Saturday's match should be just as intense.

Alpine (36-10) had no answer up front for Prairiland's Emilee Bolton, last year's state tournament MVP. Even though she was disappointed in her play, Bolton still finished with 15 kills to lead all players, most coming on feeds from Megan Graham who had 20 assists. Junior Amanda Nichols added 8 kills. Sandy Fuentez led Alpine with 8 kills and Mimi Fort added 5.

"Our outsides stepped up today and made a big difference," said Frankye Sessums. "We really weren't sharp. Our offense was a little off. Our defense kept us in the game. We hit a lull in the second game and we have one more chance to get rid of that."

Prairiland finished with 11 aces, including four by Davis.

"Our serving kept them out of their offense," added Sessums. "We always serve aggressively. We had to do that to keep them out of their offense."

"It helped a lot us being here last year," said Graham. "No one on the team was nervous. Even though we were off, it wasn't because we were nervous."

Statistical leaders

Pattonville Prairiland
Kills - Emilee Bolton 15, Amanda Nichols 8, Lacy Davis 3, Megan Graham and Britney Martin 2, Nikki Bybee 1
Assists - Megan Graham 20, Lacy Davis 5
Aces - Lacy Davis 4, Emilee Bolton 3, Megan Graham and Amanda Nichols 2

Alpine
Kills - Sandy Fuentez 8, Mimi Fort 5, Doraliza Dominguez 4, Laci Langford 3, Christina Ruiz 1
Assists - Christina Ruiz 9, Mimi Fort 7
Aces - Mimi Fort and Christina Ruiz 1