CAMPBELL -- The Bootheel Conference volleyball showdown between the Campbell Camels and Malden Green Wave lived up to its billing Monday night.
Campbell rallied from six down in a decisive third set to outlast Malden 25-21, 14-25, 25-19 and claim its first Bootheel Conference regular season title in school history.
"I'm very proud of my girls," Campbell volleyball coach Gentry Vancil said. "They came back fighting and sacrificed their bodies on defense. We had some massive saves and refused to let the ball drop."
Campbell secured the top seed in next week's Bootheel Conference Tournament at Senath-Hornersville with the victory.
"It's very special because last year we finished fifth or sixth in the conference," Vancil said. "This is a huge improvement for these girls."
Malden's Lexi Campbell opened the third set with a pair of aces. Gracie Thomas and Madilyn Earnheart later added consecutive kills to put the Green Wave on top 6-0.
Malden continued to lead 15-10 midway into the final set.
The Camels recorded 10 of the next 13 points to move ahead 20-18. Lana Reed followed with a kill to trim the deficit to 20-19 but Malden never scored after as Campbell tallied the next five points to end the three-set thriller.
"They didn't leave any holes on defense so it was hard for us score on our hits," Malden volleyball coach Brittany Crane said. "The second set we relied on tips and did really well. But for some reason the third set we wanted to start hitting more when we should have been playing smart and trying to hit holes."
Campbell burst out to a 6-0 lead in the opening set.
The Green Wave eventually scored five straight points to take its only lead of the first set at 13-12.
The first set was tied at 16-16 before Campbell recorded six of its final nine points on kills at the net for a 25-21 win.
The Green Wave recovered quickly as they built a 21-6 lead in the second set on their way to double digit victory. Malden recorded 11 kills and received three consecutive aces from Lydia Harris in the second set.
"They tipped us to death in the second set," Vancil said. "We came back in the third set and read their tips well. We are just happy and pumped we could get this win."
Thomas had nine of the Green Wave's 28 kills. Reed and Earnheart added six kills each. Campbell tallied five kills.
Claire Parker recorded six of Campbell's 17 kills. Emily Peters had five kills and Madison Burns recorded three kills.
Malden hosts Caruthersville Tuesday and Gideon with Risco Thursday before it begins its quest to win the Bootheel Conference Tournament for a fifth straight season next week.
"This didn't put us in a nice, comfortable spot," Crane said. "We really need to work on power hitting and outsmarting our opponents going forward. I feel like we got outsmarted tonight on tips at the net. They scored more at the net than we did tonight."
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