WOODLAND, Mo. -- Both Dexter and Bernie coaches used a timeout within the first 15 points. Nobody was happy.
First it was Bernie that was making too many errors, then it was Dexter. Both teams hit their first serve long and of the first 15 total points, there were nine errors.
Dexter steadily cleaned up its play and ended up being the happy team afterward, beating Bernie 28-26, 25-12 to advance to the Stoddard County Activities Association Tournament championship. The four-time defending tournament champion Bearcats will play No. 3 Bloomfield at 8 p.m. Friday after Bernie will play No. 2 Advance in the third-place game.
Dexter went from committing 17 errors in the first set to six in the second. Bernie meanwhile went from 11 errors to nine.
"I think sometimes we get too excited for the game. It wasn't like we went out there and we weren't ready or anything. We were ready, we overthink too much," Dexter senior Addie Kruse said, who had six kills.
Dexter (21-4-2) opened the night with a 7-2 run, causing Bernie to take its first timeout. In the burst, the Mules (16-10-2) committed four errors and Martin had back-to-back kills.
After the break, it was Dexter's turn to falter. The Bearcats exchanged the quartet of favors with four consecutive errors, including three straight attacks that went long. After the fourth error, a kill into the net that brought Bernie within one point, Dexter called timeout.
"What didn't I address in that moment...We had absolutely no rhythm and no ball control," Dexter coach Carmen Morgan said. "I'm addressing, we've just given them six points on hitting errors. Our philosophy is, we may give you one point, but then we want to get the ball back. Two at the max, but we've just given you six points. So I'm saying 'You have better clean that up.' Then I had to call a timeout a little later down the line. In that one, I was a little nicer, like 'Take a deep breath.'"
There would be 11 ties in the set as Dexter and Bernie traded kills and errors with neither team earning better than a three-point lead.
"I think when things started going wrong, we got a little bit worried," Morgan said.
Bernie tied it up at 10 and took its first three-point lead at 18-15 because of an illegal hit by Dexter, the team's 13th error up to that point. But then the Mules committed four errors as Dexter evened things up at 20 points.
Middle hitter Hannah Thurmon who finished with 11 kills and two blocks, put down kills to tie it at 22 and 23, then a Bernie illegal hit gave Dexter a chance at set point.
Logan Mayberry came through with two straight kills to put Bernie ahead, but then a Mule serve sailed long for the team's 11th error. Tied at 25, Cymber Arnold's attack skimmed the net and landed, putting Bernie ahead, but Thurmon countered with a kill.
Bernie then sent a pair of passes a little too close to the net.
On the first, the Mules tried to tip it over and Martin blocked it. Then Kruse stuffed an overpass to clinch the set.
After avoiding an upset by the fifth-seeded Mules, Dexter again jumped out to an early lead. The Bearcats were up 6-1 after two kills from Thurmon, one from Blair Rogers, and a trio of Bernie errors.
There would be no Bernie comeback this time.
An ace by Rogers soon put Dexter ahead by 10 points, and she also brought Dexter to set point with a powerful kill that had her gasping after it delivered a body blow to a Bernie defender.
The Mules got the serve back, but then sent a serve into the net for match point.