Year 1 of Fulton's rebuild under head coach Nicole Murphy has come to an end after the Lady Hornets' sweep (15-25, 17-25, 16-25) at the hands of Hannibal on Saturday in the Class 4 District 8 semifinals.
Fulton will now look toward improving for next season while the Lady Pirates (18-8-4) will play for their second straight district title.
Murphy said the girls played well Saturday in what was the team's third sweep to Hannibal and thought it was a good performance to close the season for her young team.
"We are a young team, and I'm excited to see what we can do next season," Murphy said.
Murphy said she will have the same front row returning so she feels like the offense is bound to improve and wants to add a setter to replace lone senior Teagan Dailey.
The team's young core returning include sophomores Mariah Reed, Mackenzie Wilson and Tehgan Sweeney while the team will have some senior leadership in the form of juniors Olivia Huff, Quiara Walton and Alexis Raebel.
The Lady Hornets finish the season with an 8-18 overall record and a 4-4 North Central Missouri Conference record.