The West Plains Lady Zizzers volleyball team has secured the No. 1 seed for the upcoming Class 4 District 6 tournament following a seeding meeting held on Thursday.
The district tournament will be hosted by Logan-Rogersville High School beginning Tuesday and continuing through Oct. 27. The opening match of the tournament is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m.
The top-seed nod follows a dominant stretch of play for the Lady Zizzers, highlighted by an exhilarating 3-2 comeback victory (25-12, 25-18, 20-25, 20-25, 15-11) over the Marshfield Lady Jays on Oct. 6.
"We were behind 1-7 in the fifth set, and came back to win 15-11," West Plains Head Coach Hailey Beazley said. "I am so proud of the resilience of this team."
Violet Hafer led the attack with 12 kills, followed by Ashlyn Tinsley with 10, Natalie Ell with seven and Delani Wahome with six. Ell also served five of the team's 10 aces. Defensively, the Zizzers tallied 11 blocks, and Emersyn Brunson led the back row with 15 digs. Ell and Aubrey Tidwell added 10 digs each, with Tidwell also dishing out 37 assists.
The day prior, the Lady Zizzers swept Mountain View-Birch Tree Liberty 3-0 (25-22, 25-13, 25-17) on Oct. 5.
West Plains racked up 11 aces, with three apiece from Hafer and Aubrey Tidwell, two each from Brunson and Rylee Smith, and one from Payton Tidwell. Hafer and Tinsley led with 10 kills each, while Kinley Smith added eight, Ell had seven and Wahome chipped in five. Aubrey Tidwell recorded 26 assists. Brunson tallied a team-high 16 digs, followed by Ell (nine), Aubrey Tidwell (eight) and Hafer (seven). The team also posted six blocks.
Over the previous weekend, West Plains went 2-0 at a tri-match on Oct. 3, defeating St. Mary's Colgan 3-1 (25-13, 25-16, 28-30, 25-13) and sweeping Webb City 3-0 (25-11, 25-16, 25-22).
Against St. Mary's Colgan, Tinsley and Hafer led with 12 kills each. The team served nine aces, including three from Hafer, and recorded 12 blocks. Aubrey Tidwell dished out 46 assists. Brunson anchored the defense with 28 digs, while Ell had 14 and Hafer added 10.
In the sweep over Webb City, Rylee Smith and Tinsley paced the offense with nine kills apiece, while Hafer had eight and Ell had seven. The Zizzers tallied 10 aces — with three each from Smith and Brunson — and 10 blocks. Aubrey Tidwell tallied 32 assists, and Brunson recorded 14 digs alongside Ell's 12.
West Plains opened October with a 3-0 conference road sweep of Branson (25-15, 25-21, 25-23) on Oct. 1.
Hafer led the Zizzers with 13 kills, and Aubrey Tidwell provided 39 assists. The team recorded seven aces and eight blocks. Defensively, Brunson, Ell and Rylee Smith combined for 19 digs.
"We dug a hole in the third set and everyone battled together to pull off a comeback," Beazley said. "That was a great conference win on the road for us."
The Lady Zizzers closed out September by cruising past Bolivar 3-0 (25-10, 25-12, 25-11) during a special school-day match on Sept. 29.
West Plains served 13 aces, with Hafer tallying four and Aubrey Tidwell adding three. Hafer led with eight kills. Brunson collected 13 digs, and Aubrey Tidwell recorded 19 assists and 10 digs.
Beazley thanked the administration and Bolivar for making the daytime event possible, calling it a "fun and memorable experience" for the team.
