BLOOMFIELD -- The Bloomfield volleyball team overcame a sluggish second set and beat the Sikeston Bulldogs 25-19, 15-25, 25-18 Monday night at Bloomfield High School.
Sikeston's Zaria Blissett was a big reason why the Wildcats fell into a 12-3 hole in the second set. She had seven of her 11 kills during an 11-1 run that rallied Sikeston from a 2-1 deficit.
"She was putting the ball down, and we wouldn't adjust," Bloomfield coach Haley Silman said. "We couldn't adjust our defense, and we couldn't adjust our block. We could've, but we just kind of had a mental lapse there."
Bloomfield had five hitting errors and a passing error in the second set.
"Our offense struggled that second set big time," Silman said. "We just kind (of let it) get in our heads. We let a bad attitude kind of rule us. They just took off with it."
The Wildcats used runs of 7-0 and 5-0 to build a 16-8 lead in the third set. Their 7-0 run gave them a 9-3 lead. Bailey Below had two of her three aces during that stretch, and Melanie Phillips had two of her six kills attacking balls as they crossed the net.
"We call those our 'birthday balls.' (They're) like (our opponent's) birthday present to us," Silman said. "Melanie had several there in a row. We're trying to get her to be a harder swinger. She finally got into that tonight. She really stepped up and swung really hard. We were really proud of her for that."
Creylee Huddleston served an ace, and Sikeston committed four errors in the Wildcats' 5-0 run.
The Bulldogs climbed within four points (20-16) before Bloomfield closed the match with a 5-2 run that included a pair of kills by Melanie Phillips and one by Molly Below.
Blissett only had two kills in the third set.
"We just kind of adjusted our defense up a little bit," Silman said. "She ... goes to the same spot every time. I told the girls, 'You know where she's going, so get ready for it.' Our mindset was at least we get it up. We don't want it to hit the floor."
The Wildcats grabbed a 6-0 lead in the first set behind the serving of Karsynn Phillips who had two aces and the front-row play of Bailey Below. Below had two of her match-high 18 kills and one of her two kill-blocks to get the Wildcats off to a fast start.
Bloomfield never trailed in the first set, although the Bulldogs closed their deficit to one point (16-15). The Wildcats responded with a 5-0 run and took advantage of a trio of Sikeston errors and an ace by Lilly Warrick to clinch the set.
Huddleston paced Bloomfield with 12 assists, and Karsynn Phillips had a team-high 29 digs.
Bloomfield cut its deficit to four points (12-8) in the second set before the Bulldogs used a 7-2 run to tie the match at one set apiece.
The Wildcats (8-6-1) will face Notre Dame at 6 p.m. Friday in Cape Girardeau. Sikeston fell to 3-10.