After a week of struggles, it all came together for the Clearwater Lady Tigers on Saturday.
The host of the Clearwater Invitational went 7-0-1 on the day and beat Doniphan 25-14, 25-11 in the championship game.
"I was pretty pleased with the way we played," Clearwater coach Rae Jean Fuchs said.
It was the first games played in Clearwater's gymnasium this fall after the floor was replaced.
In regular games during the week, the Lady Tigers (17-5-3) were sluggish.
"We came out last week and lost to Lesterville, Park Hills Central and Puxico," Fuchs said. "We've been on the road the last three weeks. I think the girls were tired mentally and physically."
After taking Friday off from practice, the Lady Tigers dropped their first game of the day Saturday morning but played well the rest of the way.
In the championship against the Donettes, Haley Alcorn had eight kills and while Brooklyn Zamzow had six. They both had eight digs. McKenzie Brinkley and Kyra Garrison each had three kills while Garrison had 15 assists.
Abigail Schembra had six digs.
The Donettes (8-3) were led by Kelsey Payne in the tournament with 30 kills while Kalli Hill had 15. Hill added 54 digs and eight blocks. Brittney Ritter led in assists with 69.
Reaching the championship was the farthest the Donettes have gone at the Clearwater Invitational.
"Even though we did not place first, we were all still proud of how the girls played," Doniphan coach Rhonda Wilson said.
SOFTBALL The Poplar Bluff softball team went 1-3 at the Jackson Invitational on Saturday.
The Lady Mules opened the tournament by beating Lutheran South of St. Louis 11-0 in six innings then lost to the host 8-4 and Scott City 10-7 when the game ended in the sixth due to a time limit. Naylor then beat the Lady Mules 5-3.
The Lady Mules (5-7) were led in hitting by Savannah Dobbs, who had an on-base percentage of .667 and hit .556 in the four games. Ally Hendricks hit her fourth home run in as many games, a two-run shot in the opener, while Randi Montgomery, Ally Brooks and Courtney Raulston went deep against Jackson.
Makela Robertson got the win against Lutheran South, allowing four hits in six innings and striking out two.
TENNIS Poplar Bluff lost to district opponent Oakville 8-1 and was edged by Mehlville 5-4 Saturday.
Aarti Parekh earned the lone win for the Lady Mules (4-6) against Oakville, beating Ashlyn Ball 9-7 in the No. 5 singles match. Victoria Bottorff and Sarah Crites lost their doubles match in a tiebreaker 6-3, 4-6, 10-7. Bottorff lost her top-seeded match 8-3. Parekh and Aisha Krishnan lost their doubles match 6-1, 6-4 while Shallyn Ward and Allison Andrews lost 6-4, 7-5.
Mehlville edged Poplar Bluff with a tiebreaker in the No. 2 doubles as Krishnan and Parekh lost 3-6, 6-4, 10-6. Bottorff and Crites lost 6-2, 6-1 while Ward and Andrews won 6-2, 6-1. Crites won her match 8-4, Ward won 8-3 and Andrews 8-5 in singles play. Bottorff lost 8-6, Krishnan lost 8-1 and Parekh lost 8-6.