Willard boys soccer and volleyball top seed in upcoming district tournaments
The Willard High School volleyball and boys soccer teams wrapped up their 2018 regular season last week.
In soccer, the Tigers traveled to Springfield Catholic on Oct. 18 but came home with a 3-2 loss. Riley Young scored both goals for the Tigers and Isaac Lup had an assist in the game.
“We lost the game but played well against one of, if not the, best team in the area,” said head coach Tim Magee. “We actually had the lead on them but couldn’t put in a finishing goal or hold them out. We went in looking at this game as a tune up in preparation for district and it was just that. I was proud of the effort these young men put in and went toe-to-toe with them. We now have a week off before the start of district. We will take that time to get healthy, shore up a couple of things and get our legs back underneath us after a long regular season.”
Willard hosted Neosho on Oct. 16 and was able to shut out the Wildcats, 2-0, on goals by Cole Oedewalt and Young. Young and Oedewalt also assisted each others goals.
“It was a good win on senior night and a night where the field was very wet and footing was bad at best,” said Magee. “We didn’t play very good team soccer but we did enough offensively and defensively to get the win. It was a special night for our seniors and even though the conditions weren’t great, it came off very well. Those 10 young men will not be here next year so hopefully we can make the most of what’s left.”
Willard will host next week’s Class 3, District 11 tournament and are the top seed. Parkview is seeded second, Bolivar is third and Hillcrest is the fourth seed. The Tigers will play Hillcrest on Oct. 29, with the district championship game scheduled for Halloween night, Oct. 31.
Volleyball
The Willard Lady Tigers traveled to Branson for their final regular season volleyball game and came home with a straight set victory over the Lady Pirates, 25-17 and 25-12.
Ashton Wildermuth led Willard with 26 assists; Emily Terry had eight kills and digs and two aces and Daisie Cruse also had two aces in the win.
“We had a great blocking night over Branson,” said head coach Jamalee Hancock. “All of our blockers played great at the net. We had several players with really great kill percentages, including Krystalynn Melton, Cruse and Maddy Bushnell. It was great to finish off our season playing solid as a team, and we are excited we are playing at a high level leading into districts.”
Willard played the winner of the Camdenton/Springfield Central game on Oct. 23 in the semifinals of the Class 4, District 9 tournament in Camdenton. The championship game will follow the semifinals.
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