KENNETT, Mo. -- Kennett became the latest victim of the undefeated Malden Green Wave on Thursday night.
Malden got eight ace serves, eleven kills and three blocks as it pounded its way past Kennett 2-0 (25-14, 25-17).
"Malden played a great game," Kennett volleyball coach Laurie Vaughan said. "I just don't think we executed very well. We were sitting back on our heels not ready to attack. But give Malden credit because they played a great game. We didn't play our best game and defeated ourselves in a lot of areas. We got down on ourselves and each other and you just cannot do that in a team sport like volleyball."
The Green Wave dominated the first set from the get-go as it built an early 7-1 lead that quickly swelled to double digits at 20-10.
"We scored points on serves in spurts," Malden volleyball coach Brittany Crane said.
The second set was tied at 9-9 before a kill by Tyneshia Wilson and an ace by Camille Thomas put Kennett (3-2) back on top 11-9.
Malden (5-0) followed with the next nine points in a spurt that included three ace serves by Lydia Harris and led by at least five the rest of the way.
"I thought we started out with a good rally in the second set," Vaughan said. "We were pumped and had motivated our players between sets. Then we had a miscue in the scorebook or something. Us being stagnant for five to 10 minutes kind of hurt us. We need to learn as a team to stay motivated even if there is a lull in the game. I think that will just come from playing together and learning as a team how to overcome those situations."
Harris tallied a team-high five aces for Malden.
"She served 16 serves in," Crane said. "Some of them were in a spurt as long as eight or nine in a row."
Gracie Thomas led Malden with five kills and recorded two aces.
"Gracie Thomas gets some nice touches for us on the block, which allows us to pass the ball," Crane said.
Lana Reed earned three block kills for Malden.
"Lana Reed has perfect timing and puts the ball down," Crane said.
Twin Rivers 2, Hayti 0
(25-23, 25-14)
Brooke Blume served 16 times and finished with four aces to go with six kills, nine digs and a block for the Lady Royals. Katelyn South added nine kills, eight digs, a block and an ace. Catey Hester led Twin Rivers with 25 digs and Hannah Phillips had 19 assists.
BASEBALL
East Carter 10, Twin Rivers 2
Tied at 2-all in the bottom of the sixth, Jake Andrews got an RBI double that sparked a huge run for East Carter.
The Redbirds (7-2) scored eight runs in the six, propelled by singles from Matt McLean, Colby Miller and Drew Asher. Wyatt Elliot added a double.
McLean finished with four RBIs off two hits to lead East Carter's offense. Andrews was the only Redbird to score twice.
Asher pitched in the win and allowed five hits and two walks with nine strikeouts.
Preston Martin had a home run and two of Twin Rivers' five hits. He also pitched 5 1/3 innings in the loss for the Royals (3-2) and allowed seven hits and four walks with two strikeouts.
Van Buren 10, Winona 0
Ethan Ponder and Jacob Brown combined for a five-inning shutout for the Bulldogs (3-5). Ponder started and alloed four hits and no walks with three strikeouts over three innings.
Brown finished the game with two strikeouts and gave up one hit.
Connor Jackson went 3 for 3 with three RBIs for Van Buren. Hayden Barnes, Ponder and Wyatt Dougherty each scored twice.
SOFTBALL
Van Buren 12, Alton 1
The Lady Dawgs scored seven runs in the fifth to put away Alton.
Jalynn Morgan pitched five innings in the win and allowed two hits and a walk with five strikeouts.
Jennifer Morey and Morgan Shockley, who hit first and second in the Van Buren (4-0) lineup, each had three of the team's 11 hits. Shockley scored three times while Morey had two runs and two RBIs.
Batting third, Logan Crafton had a team high three RBIs.
East Carter 9, Twin Rivers 1
Brooklyn Loftis scored three times to lead the Lady Redbirds and had two RBIs, a hit and a walk.
Maddyson Holloway and Makenna Moore both had three of East Carter's 12 hits. Holloway also scored twice while Moore had two RBIs.
Twin Rivers had two hits, one each by Bella Galloway and Kaitlin Deken. Galloway also tripled and scored. The Lady Royals drew four walks.