Hannah Vaughn made her final home match a memorable one Tuesday night as the Poplar Bluff senior broke another team record in a comeback win.
Vaughn recorded a record 39 assists as the Mules rallied to beat Lesterville 21-25, 25-20, 25-19 at the Senior High Gym.
"She's going to have her name on five or six (records) by the time it's over," Mules coach Amanda Lance said of Vaughn, who set a single-season assist mark last year and owns the career record with over 1,200 entering her senior year.
Vaughn and fellow senior Doni Everts were honored prior to the match.
The Mules (11-5) overcame a first-game setback for the second time in three games a night after an improbable first-set rally to beat Farmington.
"I'm happy that we're working out of them and coming out on top, that's good practice," Lance said. "That's something you can't practice, especially for our younger girls, that's very good experience, but I'd like to control the game a little better."
Kiley Bess led with 16 kills while fellow sophomore Khelie Spence added 10 with six each from Everts, Haley Slaughter and Sophia Rowland. Vaughn had four kills while libero Ady Kingree had 26 digs, Slaughter added 17, Bess 13 and Rowland 11.
Lesterville (12-5-1), ranked eighth in Class 1, scored the final seven points to overcome a 21-18 deficit and take the first game.
Poplar Bluff used a 5-1 run after the teams were tied eight times early in the second game, then held off a late charge to force the deciding third set.
"We just had a couple of girls light it up," Lance said.
The Bearcats built an early four-point lead in the third game, but couldn't shake Poplar Bluff.
Down 13-9, the Mules got a sideout on a wide serve then got a block from Bess and Spence before Rowland's ace tied it at 14-all. After the teams traded four points to be tied again at 16-all, Lesterville blocked Bess twice on the next rally that ended with Bess blocking a Bearcat spike for the lead.
Slaughter followed with a kill, forcing a Lesterville timeout, before Bess put the Mules up 19-16 with a kill. Following a serve into the net, Vaughn set a set over the net for a kill and sideout before the Bearcats sent an attack long. Bess then clipped the net with her spike that fell in for a 22-17 lead before Rowland's cross-court kill split two defenders. Spence later closed out the match with a kill.
"We had a couple of girls get on a roll and everything else gelled together," Lance said.
The Mules had been 1-4 when losing the first set this season, rallying to win Thursday at Kennett, 26-28, 25-18, 25-13.
Poplar Bluff had a chance to take the first set after trailing Lesterville 10-4 to start the match. The Mules followed with a 6-2 run but couldn't pull even until consecutive kills by Spence and Slaughter before Spence's kill in the middle tied it at 17-all.
The Mules then thought they had won the next point on a spike by Spence but the Bearcats were able to keep the point alive with a sprawling dig only to quickly lose it on a kill by Bess.
"They're an excellent defensive team," Lance said. "Teams like that can beat good hitting teams all day long."
Lesterville broke a 21-all tie with a block that fell in for a point before a pair of Poplar Bluff hitting errors and a back-row attack violation.
The Mules broke an 11-all tie in the second with four straight points that featured kills by Spence and Slaughter. The Bearcats got within 18-16 but Rowland ended the longest rally of the night with a kill after a diving dig by Slaughter and Everts followed with a kill off a free ball for a 21-16 advantage. Slaughter's ace inside the back line and a kill by Rowland through a block gave the Mules set point, which Lesterville avoided three times before an attack into the net.
"We've seem to struggle every time we lose that first set, second set is scary," Lance said. "I don't know, we pushed through it tonight."
In the process, Vaughn topped the single-match assists mark she had tied in the same match last year with 34 against Lesterville to tie Megan Moe's 2002 mark. Vaughn also had 33 assists against Jackson last fall.
Unlike Vaughn, who has played for Lance since seventh grade, Everts joined the program as a sophomore.
"They are excellent leaders on the court," Lance said. "No drama, everyone gets along, everyone is friends, everyone builds each other up. I couldn't ask for better seniors."
The Mules, who won a shortened junior varsity match 29-27, travel Thursday to Clearwater.