Notre Dame secures victory over Kennett

KENNETT, Mo. - The Kennett Indians faced off against the northern Class 3 District 1 opponents, Notre Dame.

Notre Dame walked away with a 3-0 victory to extend their record to 20-7-1.

Historically a tough match-up for the Indians as they were 0-14 against the Bulldogs prior to this year. However, Kennett was able to halt the losing streak by splitting sets with Notre Dame in the SEMO Dig for Life Tournament in early September.

They fought to hand Notre Dame their first and only tie of the season so far.

Despite the progress in the Dig for Life rounds, Kennett fell to the Bulldogs once more in three sets.

The first set was close, nonetheless, with Notre Dame only winning by three points. The final score was 25-22. Kennett’s sophomore Olivia Raspberry helped keep the first set close with five kills and one ace.

Notre Dame pulled away a little bit in the second set, which ended with a final score of 25-19. Raspberry was able to put down six more kills in this set. She was helped out by her teammate Ella Gardner who had three kills in the second set.

However, the third set was all Bulldogs, as they completed the sweep with a 25-12 final set victory.

Junior Claudia Jones was the big hand for Notre Dame, as she led the team with 38 total assists. She also had 12 digs and four aces.

The hot hitters for Notre Dame were seniors Kendyl Slinkard and Courtney Tatum. Slinkard had 15 kills while Tatum put down 11. Tatum also picked up 11 digs and three blocks.

Senior Lyla Martin led the team with 17 digs. She also had one kill on the night.

For Kennett, Raspberry finished with 12 kills and one ace. Gardner got hot in the third set and finished the night with 8 total kills along with one ace. Gardner also had eight assists.

Lillianna Wilson led the team with 10 assists. Her sister, Isabella Wilson led the team defensively at the net with one block.

Defensive specialist Kynsly McCaig and Baylee Wilcut led their team in digs. McCaig had 11 digs while Wilcut recorded seven total digs.

The Indians will close out their regular season of play with one last home game against Scott City on Tuesday, Oct. 22. This game will begin at 6:30 p.m.

As for Notre Dame, they will also host their last game of the regular season at home against Dexter on Wednesday, Oct. 23 at 6:30 p.m.