A good showing in their home tournament.

That is what Kaci Jones’ Belle Lady Tiger volleyball team was after Saturday during the annual Belle Volleyball Tournament played at both Bland Middle School and Belle High School.

Placing second in their pool behind Linn’s Lady Wildcats, Jones’ Lady Tigers were preparing to face North Callaway’s Lady Thunderbirds in the third-place match.

Saturday afternoon, that match turned into the second-place match after Russellville forfeited the championship match in order to return home to get ready for their homecoming dance that evening.

With the forfeiture, Linn’s Lady Wildcats won the tournament.

Taking game one 25-21, Belle trailed 3-2 early in the second set before a Makenna Loughridge kill tied the set at 3-3 sending senior Ella Tipton behind the serving line.

Seeing Tipton serve Belle’s next three points, the Lady Tigers led 6-3 before North Callaway took a 10-9 lead later in the set.

After a Lady Thunderbird attack error tied game two at 15-15, a Saige Garner kill put Belle back on top 16-15 sending Mea Jones into serving duty.

Serving the next six points, Jones gave Belle a 22-15 lead before a Loughridge ace gave the Lady Tigers second-place hardware following their 25-21 and 25-20 win over North Callaway who claimed the third-place plaque.

Mea Jones recorded eight service points in game two for the Lady Tigers.

Other place matches saw Plato take seventh with a two-set win over Bourbon 25-16 and 25-16 while Steelville took consolation honors defeating Dixon in two sets 25-16 and 25-15.

Opening pool play at Belle High School Saturday morning, Belle took on Dixon’s Lady Bulldogs in a Highway 28 volleyball showdown.

Taking advantage of service runs Nolie Finnegan, Saige Garner and Brooklyn Maddox, Belle swept Dixon to open pool play taking both sets 25-15 and 25-11.

Maddox served up three aces for  Belle against Dixon.

Lydia Jones and Maddox each had four kills to lead Belle against the Lady Bulldogs.

Next up for Kaci Jones’ Lady Tigers in pool play were Bourbon’s Lady Warhawks.

Senior Mea Jones served the first five points of game one helping Belle to a 9-4 lead early in game one.

Pool matches started out at 4-4 in an effort to keep games scheduled on time throughout the tournament.

Able to withstand several Bourbon service runs, Belle took game one of their pool match 25-19 over the Lday Warhawks.

In game two, the Lady Tigers trailed Bourbon 11-9 before a Garner kill put her behind the service line.

Serving the next seven points, Garner gave Belle a 17-11 lead before three Maddox service aces helped the Lady Tigers take game two and the match by scores of 25-19 and 25-13.

Loughridge led Belle with three kills against Bourbon all in game one.

Entering their final pool match with Linn, Belle simply needed to split with the Lady Wildcats in order to advance to the championship match by virtue of winning the pool at BHS.

This was because Dixon and Linn split the match prior with the Lady Wildcats taking game one 25-18 while the Lady Bulldogs claimed game two 25-20.

Leading 5-4 on an early Jones service point, Belle saw Linn score five of the next seven points leaving the Lady Tigers trailing 10-7.

In spite of kills from Maddox, Lydia Jones and Loughridge, Belle dropped game one 25-17 against Linn.

Surrendering the first five points of game two, Belle could not overcome a plethora of errors before dropping game two and the match 25-17 and 25-15.

Lydia Jones led Belle with three kills against Linn.

Monday night against St. James for senior night, Belle’s JV Lady Tigers fell in two sets 25-11 and 25-21 before their varsity counterparts swept St. James in three sets 25-13, 25-14 and 25-17.