After four games and a week on the road to open the season, the Mules battled both sickness and the Zizzers in their home opener.
Poplar Bluff beat West Plains 2-1 (29-27, 25-17) after losing consecutive road games at Jackson and Bloomfield.
"We started out really strong. We had a rough night at an away game last week, so we're coming off that. I was glad to get the win. I have several girls who don't feel good. I was proud of them that they worked through the sickness and came out with a win," Poplar Bluff coach Amanda Lance said. "Was it our best night? No. Was it our cleanest play? No. But they got the job done, so I was happy with that."
The Mules (3-2) faced multiple game points in the first game and kept the advantage during some rally scoring.
Tied at 26, West Plains committed a passing error before setter Macie Duggins tied it up again with a tip.
Poplar Bluff's Haley Slaughter got the serve back with a kill and then nailed an ace for the 29-27 win.
"When you get into a game like that it is hard. It can go either way very fast. So I was proud of them for keeping going and coming out with a win," Lance said. "That is good pressure for them to practice on for when we get into those more intense games. So that is very good experience. I'll take games like that every night."
Poplar Bluff took a 9-5 lead in Game 2 after four straight aces from sophomore Sierra Sievers, who started the season on JV, followed by a double hit call against West Plains.
"Sierra Sievers, she usually doesn't serve for us. She is a sophomore playing on varsity. She came in serving, we were off tonight, and she got every one of her serves over. So I was proud of her for that because that is hard, being a sophomore on varsity with that pressure," Lance said. "Other than that, everybody had their moments, but I was proud of Sierra for serving tonight."
The Mules maintained the lead the rest of the game, but the Zizzers were able to cut the advantage to 15-14 after Poplar Bluff served into the net.
Kiley Bess scored a kill from the back row to start a five-point run for the Mules. Bess added two blocks during the run, Khelie Spence had an ace and West Plains made a passing error as Poplar Bluff took a 20-14 lead.
The Mules closed the match with four straight points. Haley Slaughter started the run with a stuff at the net and Sophie Rowland followed with a kill. After West Plains sent an attack long, Bess finished the match with a kill.
"Even though everything wasn't spot on, they never gave up or had a moment of, 'oh shoot' and a downward spiral. I felt like it was pretty even-keeled, so that was a positive," Lance said.
The win is Poplar Bluff's first of September after the Mules opened the season with wins at Puxico and North County. Poplar Bluff hosts Sikeston Thursday, followed by the West Plains Showdown on Saturday.
CROSS COUNTRY
Jaden Deaton won the Zizzer Invitational in West Plains on Tuesday as Poplar Bluff took third in the boys event and second in the girls event.
Deaton won in 16 minutes, 49.80 seconds, edging out Colby Sanders of West Plains by less than a second.
The Zizzers placed six runners in the top nine and won the event with 22 points.
Dylan Cisne took 12th for the Mules in 19:36.80. Johnathon Thurman was 24th (20:29.80), Seth Ingle took 27th (20:41.26), Tristan Gillihan was 31st (21:10.64) and Brent Worley was 33rd (21:47.97) and Adam Griggis was 34th (21:48.33) for the Mules.
Poplar Bluff finished with 76 points, six points behind Mountain Home.
For the girls, Katelyn Moeller led Poplar bluff with a 14th place finish in 22:10.46 as the Mules finished second with 50 points. West Plains also won the girls event with 15 points and took the top four spots and seven of the top 10.
Salah McCormack finished 17th for Poplar Bluff in 23:29.81. Paige Bradley was right behind her in 18th (24:27.18). A shortwhile later, Ava Smith (25:32.91), Alexis Richardson (25:52.49) and Julia Smothers (26:06.62) finished in order in 21st, 22nd and 23rd.
TENNIS
The Mules were swept 9-0 by Cape Central on Tuesday in Cape Girardeau, marking the third straight event where Poplar Bluff failed to win a match.
"A lot of winnable matches were lost to a fast moving and focused Cape Girardeau team," Poplar Bluff coach Michael Sowatzke said.
Annaleese Williams and Simone Anderson put up the biggest challenge to Cape Central, as both lost 8-4 in No. 5 and No. 6 singles play. The pair also lost 8-5 in doubles.
Sara Holland lost 8-0 in No. 1 Singles while Maya White lost 8-2 in No. 2 singles. In No. 3 and No. 4 singles respectively, Clarisa Varner and Megan Murphy both lost 8-1. Cape Central also took No. 1 doubles and No. 2 doubles 8-0.
Poplar Bluff (1-3) opened its season with an 8-1 win at Sikeston and has since lost 9-0 to Dexter and 5-0 to Jackson in a weather shortened event.