Poplar Bluff volleyball coach Aimie Parkin was back with the team this weekend following the birth of her daughter earlier this month.
The Mules won 7 of 10 games in pool play before losing to Woodland 25-11, 25-11 at 34th annual Dig For Life Challenge in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.
Coming into the tournament, which was held at the Show Me Center and Cape Girardeau SportsPlex, the Mules had been swept in four matches to start the season. They opened Friday against Valle Catholic by taking the first game and split, 26-24, 7-25, before losing to Lesterville 25-12, 25-14.
“That was kind of a boost,” Parkin said of the opening-game win. “It kind of helped that morale more than anything.”
On Saturday, the Mules beat Kennett 25-18, 25-17 to end pool play, Then beat St. Vincent 25-19. 25-18 and Summersville 25-19, 25-22 before being knocked out by Woodland.
Parkin said she was able to watch the team’s online livefeed while on paternity leave and said that the communication on the court was better than it had been leading to more offense.
“Everything just kind of flowed a lot better,” she added.
The Mules (3-6-1) travel Tuesday to West Plains before a trip Thursday to Sikeston.
CROSS COUNTRY
Poplar Bluff runners got their first look at a 5,000-meter course Saturday at the Arcadia Valley Invitational.
Parker Hicks finished 42nd with a time of 19 minutes, 1.18 seconds as the Mules finished 12th as a team.
Allie Dees was 51st in 25:24 to lead Poplar Bluff’s girls team, which placed ninth.
Tristan Gillihan (19:50) placed 54th, Cayden Larkins (20:39) was 66th, Cameron Sisk (21:09) 75th and Nick Spain (21:35) was 83rd. Wyatt Rowcliff (22:43) and Aden Wirtz (23:14) also ran for the Mules.
Dees was one of four freshman to start for Poplar Bluff while Lyndsay Weaver (26:20) was 60th followed by Lily Reasons (26:22). Madyson Kordick (27:33) finished 68th and Natalie Woodruff (27:42) was 73rd while Julia Smothers (30:49) ran.
In the junior high race, Poplar Bluff’s Ava Stotts was ninth in 9:37 with Katherine Scott (10:03) and Wren Cotrell (10:05) finishing 14th and 15th as the girls were third as a team. Lane Dunham (8:22) was 16th to lead the boys, who finished 11th as a team.
SWIMMING
The Mules dropped times in all of their individual events along with the medley relay that cut nearly 9 seconds to place 12th in 1 minute, 54.34 seconds. Poplar Bluff’s 400-yard freestyle relay finished 10th with a season-best time of 3:46.07.
Owen McDaniel dropped 17 seconds from his best time in the 200 freestyle while Carson Todd had his best time in the 50 freestyle at 24.68 to finish 17th.
Elijah McAtee finished 17th in the 500 freestyle, lowering his state-consideration time, while Christian Todd was 18th in the breaststroke.
SOFTBALL
The Mules finished 1-4 at the Ozark Fall Festival over the weekend, losing a pair of one-run games with the other two losses against state-ranked teams.
Republic rallied with a five-run seventh to beat the Mules 8-7 in the opening game Friday before Grain Valley, ranked No. 10 in Class 5 by the state coaches, beat Poplar Bluff 10-0 and sixth-ranked Raymore-Peculiar topped the Mules 8-3.
On Saturday, a six-run second inning lifted the Mules to a 7-6 win over Nixa before a 3-2 loss to Carthage.
Clara Rahlmann hit a home run to start the six-run inning against Nixa while Breann Thresher struck out five, walked two and allowed four earned runs on nine hits to go with a double at the plate. Madelyn Hefner was 2 for 3 with a pair of RBIs in the win.
Emilee Cheek had multiple hits in three games, scoring three times against Republic and driving in a pair of runs against Raymore-Peculiar, hitting .533 on the weekend. Adrianne Casey drove in three runs against Republic with a 3 for 4 performance, Ella Zgaynor had two RBIs and was 2 for 3 in the loss.
Serena Davis and Kennedy Zgaynor had Poplar Bluff’s only hits against Grain Valley as the Mules were shut out for the second time all season.
The Mules (7-6) will have their home opener Tuesday against Notre Dame, ranked seventh in Class 5, before traveling Thursday to Naylor.