Staff photo by Mike Buhler Members and coaches of the Kennett Lady Indians volleyball team celebrate after the Lady Tribe closes out Hayti in the third and deciding set of Tuesday's Bootheel Conference Tournament semifinal game at Steele. [Click to enlarge]

STEELE, Mo. -- The road to the Bootheel Conference Tournament finals was not an easy one for the Kennett Lady Indians volleyball team.

The Lady Tribe found itself on the ropes several times before rallying for a 25-18, 25-27, 26-24 win over Hayti in the Bootheel Conference Tournament semifinals here Tuesday.

"Definitely we were in survival mode," Kennett coach Laura Ort said. "Hayti played an outstanding ballgame. They hit the ball well, blocked well, they played good defense and they just worked hard."

Staff photo by Mike Buhler Kennett's Taylor Wake gets ready to serve the ball during Tuesday's Bootheel Conference Tournament semifinal game against Hayti at Steele. [Click to enlarge]

After Kennett (21-2-1) won the opening set, Hayti rallied to take a back-and-forth second set and held an 8-3 lead in the final set before the Lady Indians rallied to tie the game.

From then it was back and forth until Kennett snapped a 24-all tie with back-to-back points to take the match.

"It seemed like at every point there was somebody different that stepped up," said Ort. "It was either Jody (Vancil) getting a dig or Taylor (Wake getting) a couple of good hard hits. Ciara (Dewrock) had a good serve there at the end and had to make her serves."

Hayti stayed in the game with strong net play and tough defense that seemed to dig up one Kennett ball after another.

"They were relentless on defense," Ort said. "Individually, there were a couple of girls that didn't have a great night for us, but as a team they were able to pick each other up and get the win."

Brea Riddle led the way with eight kills, eight assists and five aces, while Dewrock added seven kills, three blocks and three aces and Wake chipped in five kills, four aces and eight digs.

Megan Lack added a pair of aces and eight digs, while Chrisie Burrow dished off seven assists, Samantha Risner added three kills and a block, and Vancil finished with three kills and nine digs.

The Lady Tribe will battle Senath-Hornersville for both the varsity and junior varsity championships Thursday night. The varsity Lady Lions downed host South Pemiscot in the semifinals after downing Portageville in the first round on Tuesday.

"I'm thrilled to have both teams in the finals," said Ort. "They've worked so hard all year. They deserve to be there."

Notes: Opening serve for the jayvee title game is set for 6 p.m. Thursday with the varsity game to follow. … Kennett is 2-0 against Senath-Hornersville in both varsity and jayvee games this season. … The Lady Tribe has been in the finals three of the last four years.

KMS girls split
The Kennett Lady Indians junior high basketball teams split a doubleheader with South Pemiscot on Tuesday, with the eighth graders winning 41-23 and he seventh-grade squad losing 28-24.

In the eighth-grade contest, Kennett outscored the Lady Bulldogs 18-6 in the second half to take control of the game, including shutting the Lady 'Dogs out in the third period.

Jenny Lockhert scored a game-high 18 points for the Lady Tribe, while Anna Kay Hilburn added 15 in the win.

Carrie Shepard led South Pem with 12 points.

In the seventh-grade game, the Lady Bulldogs outscored Kennett 12-8 in the final period to take the win.

Darby Sparks scored a game-high 12 points for the Lady Indians, while Kelsey Washburn added eight in the loss.

Shepard led South Pem with 10 points, while Alisha Campbell added eight.