JOPLIN - The Carl Junction volleyball team fully embraced the underdog role. Using their lower seed as extra motivation, third-seeded Carl Junction knocked off the top two seeds en route to the Class 4 District 11 tournament championship at Joplin High School's Kaminsky Gymnasium.
Carl Junction earned a thrilling 2-1 (14-25, 25-23, 27-25) come-from-behind victory over No. 1 seed Carthage in the championship match to advance in the state tournament. The win came after the Bulldogs handled No. 2 Webb City 2-0 (25-18, 25-22) in the semifinals.
It's the second straight year the Bulldogs have topped the Tigers for a district crown.
Junior outside hitter Alexa Boyle led Carthage (28-7) with 21 kills, while senior libero Jillian Brunnert had 28 digs and senior setter Gracie Fagg handed out 40 assists.
With Boyle, Ava Petticrew and A.C. Crockford leading the way, the Tigers rolled in the opening set, leading 11-4 right away.
The Tigers led 17-9 in the second set when the Carl Junction suddenly turned things around with a 10-2 run. Later, the set was tied at 22 when the CJ scored three of the next four points to force a deciding third set.
The intense third set was back and forth all the way. Boyle and Petticrew slammed kill after kill for the Tigers, while Southern and Lewis answered again and again for the Bulldogs.
Carl Junction's Jillian Kennedy and Jessa Hylton and Carthage's Boyle and Paige Schrader registered kills and the score was tied at 25. Lewis then recorded back-to-back kills to give Carl Juntion the match.
"That was a tough loss," Carthage coach Tony Allmoslecher said. "It was a great match. Both teams played tough. I thought we kind of lost our discipline. And to Carl Junction's credit, they were making some great choices where they were hitting the ball and that hurt us."
In the semifinals, Carl Junction defeated Webb City (21-10-3) in straight sets.
Carthage advanced to the finals with a 25-11, 25-14 win over No. 4 Joplin (14-17-2).
The season ending loss marked just the seventh loss in 35 outings for the Tigers.  Carthage will graduate 10 seniors but appear to be ready to reload supported by a JV team which compiled a 23-3 record. The 28 wins for the season is a high water mark for Tigers Volleyball.

-In part from Jason Peake, Joplin Globe Sports