CAPE GIRARDEAU — Ozark continued its absolute dominance of its opponents by sweeping Francis Howell at the Class 5 State Tournament on Wednesday.
The Lady Tigers earned their way to a championship berth by sweeping Francis Howell 25-21, 25-18, 25-18 in a semifinal.
Ozark (38-3) upped its winning streak to 10 straight matches. During that streak, the Lady Tigers have taken an amazing 27 of 28 sets.
Sweeps have been par for the course. Coach Adeanna Brewer's bunch has won in straight sets in 33 of its 41 matches, or 80 percent..
Ozark rallied from an 18-12 deficit in the opening set against Francis Howell, closing the set with a 13-3 run.
In the second set, the Tigers closed with an 8-3 run.
The third set saw Skylar Hilton finish off the match with her 15th kill on the night. She has reached double figures in kills in four of her last six matches.
Hilton made good on 15 of her 31 kill attempts.
Tara Venable contributed a dozen kills and three aces.
Venable upped her season kills total over 500 while Hilton surpassed 400. Venable has 511 kills and Hilton 413.
Ozark had just 12 errors on its 114 kill attempts.
In contrast, Francis Howell was guilty of 20 errors in its 120 kills attempts and the Lady Vikings had j a medicore .158 kill percentage.
Reece Cook dished out 35 assists for the winners. Macy Humble had three aces, Brooklyn Solomon two, Cook one and Bradie Solomon one.
Tonight's title tilt at 8 will feature Ozark opposite two-time defending state champion Lafayette (31-5).
The Lady Tigers, who are at the Class 5 Final Four for the first time in its program history, will be looking for their first state championship since winning the Class 4 title in 2009.
