BLOOMFIELD -- The Bloomfield Wildcats volleyball team was looking for a fast start Thursday night against Poplar Bluff.
The Wildcats responded by scoring 16 of the match's first 20 points and defeated the Mules 25-15, 25-22 at Bloomfield High School.
"We've only had two games, and we kind of started out sluggish both games," Bloomfield coach Haley Silman said. "We lost five seniors (from last year), so we're new (to) playing together. Playing that way tonight was exactly what we needed."
After a back-and-forth start, the Wildcats went on a 12-1 run to take a 16-4 lead. Bailey Below served most of those points and had three of her team-high six aces during that stretch.
She also led the Wildcats with seven kills and two kill-blocks and added four digs and three assists.
"She really brought it out tonight. She's such an all-around player," Silman said. "We have her setting this year, which ... is new to her, but she fell right into it and did great. Her hitting was very good tonight."
The Wildcats (3-0) converted 85.7 percent of their serves.
"The first couple of games ... we were all missing serves," Silman said. "Tonight, all of us stepped our serving up. Just kind of concentrated on getting that serve in. It really showed tonight."
Libero Karsynn Phillips paced the Wildcats with 12 digs, Creylee Huddleston had a team-high six assists and Lilly Warrick added five kills.
The Mules never came closer than nine points following Bloomfield's first-set run.
Poplar Bluff put up a fight in the second set and used an 8-1 surge to take its first lead of the match. The Mules drilled three kills during the run and took advantage of a series of errors by Bloomfield to go ahead 12-8.
"We kind of sat back a little bit in that second game. We kind of let Poplar Bluff rule the momentum," Silman said. "But I told them, 'Girls you know we have to play at our level.' We want the other team to play up to our level. They kind of figured that out and had to step it up a notch."
Bloomfield stayed close and took the lead for good with a 4-0 run that featured a kill and a kill-block by Below and gave it a 17-15 lead.
The Wildcats stretched their lead to 24-18. Warrick had a kill during the 7-3 run.
The Mules answered with a 4-0 run that included an ace by Kiley Bess and a kill-block by Adyson Kingree.
However, Below ended the match with a ball-placement point.
The Mules fell to 2-2 after losing their second match of the week. Jackson beat them 22-25, 25-17, 25-19 Tuesday night at Jackson.