Salem capped a successful day by placing fourth in the Cabool Tournament Saturday.
In pool play Salem started off by losing to Mountain Grove 25-11, 25-18. The Lady Tigers then knocked off Greenfield 25-17, 25-20. Next Salem defeated a Plato team that had earlier split with Mountain Grove 25-22, 25-22. And Salem ended pool play by sweeping Ava 25-15, 25-16.
That put the Lady Tigers second in their pool and a matchup with Neosho in the third-place bracket match. In a see-saw battle, Salem was clipped by Neosho 25-19, 19-25, 25-17.
Licking took first place and Cabool second.
Earlier in the week Salem lost three road games to West Plains on Sept. 10 25-16, 25-14; lost to Licking Thursday 25-11, 25-17, and on Friday lost to Winona 25-21, 25-15.
Salem is now 5-7 overall, while its junior varsity squad stands at 3-2-1.
This week the Lady Tigers are to play at Willow Springs today (Tuesday) and at Thayer Thursday, with 6 p.m. starts each night.
Kirsten Golden had six digs and a kill for Salem, while Madi Keith had seven assists and four digs; Londyn Cook two kills; Jodie Dean one ace and four digs; Jana Cook one ace and one kill; Faith Roberts one kill and one dig; Makaela Fisk one kill, and Bailey Martin one ace and two solo blocks.
West Plains also won the junior varsity contest 25-23, 25-19.
“West Plains was a solid competitor, but we were not at our best that evening,” said Salem head coach Amanda Walker. “We came out big to start the match and got a decent lead on them, but then never could find our groove again.”
“We really struggled as a team against Licking with only three kills on the night and a few aces,” Walker said. “We started to rally back in the second set, but it was too little, too late. We might get to play them again in the Licking Classic. I know we can play them a lot tougher given another chance.”
In a two-set JV match, Salem split with Licking, 19-25, 25-21.
Golden had an ace and eight digs; Keith had two aces, five assists and two digs; Melody Whitman had three digs; Londyn Cook had an ace, one kill and two digs; Roberts two aces, three kills and two digs, and Martin two kills and a solo block.
