North Callaway lost every set in its three matches Saturday in the Belle Tournament.
The Ladybirds didn't have a successful day but played better as the tournament wore on, head coach Andrew Klein said.
"We came out a little lackluster (Saturday)," he said. "We luckily got better as the day went on but so did the competition."
The Ladybirds had a lead in both sets in their first match with Belle junior varsity. North Callaway had a 16-15 lead in the first set and a 6-3 lead in the second set. Belle JV came back to win the first and second sets 25-21.
North Callaway had its third shot against Russellville (7-6), after being swept in three twice by the Lady Indians earlier in the season, but couldn't win either set this time around.
The Ladybirds ended their day playing the varsity squad from Belle (10-6-1) and dropped both sets to the Lady Tigers, who advanced to the championship game later against Centralia and would settle for second place.
North Callaway (2-16, 1-6 EMO) will try a second time to defeat Bowling Green (6-12, 3-2 EMO) on the road Tuesday after losing a competitive four-set match (24-26, 28-26, 23-25, 17-25) Sept. 30 in North Callaway.