Lady Bulldogs Michele Williams and Jamie Kaleh teaming
After a slow start this evening, the Magnolia Lady Bulldogs ripped into the Oak Ridge Lady War Eagles' nest and came away with a 3-1 victory in their best 3 of 5 match by the score of 22-25, 25-13, 25-18, and 25-14. The Lady Bulldogs are now 27-7 overall and 8-0 in District 15-5A play and have won 13 matches in a row. The loss in set #1 ended the sweep streak (3 straight victories in a row) at 6 (or the equivalent of 18 sets in a row), but if you asked anybody they would tell you - "It's the win we want... not how we won it!"
The Lady Bulldogs fielded an unusal, vulnerable lineup in the first set and were immediately under fire after having an uncharacteristically slow start with an unusually high-count of unforced errors quickly mounting up. The DAWGS trailed Oak Ridge until they pulled up even and tied the game at 10-10, but quickly fell back and trailed in the middle of the set until Magnolia took the lead at 20-19 when OH Jamie Kaleh pushed a shot to the left corner of the court. MB Hannah Fort kept the DAWGS in the hunt with 4 kills, but Magnolia was waivering during this set. Michele 'Boom Boom' Williams put a missle down, exploding on the floor to tie the game up at 21-21 and the DAWG House started barkin', sensing victory was near!! Oak Ridge re-grouped however, scoring 3 straight points on DAWG errors until Ashlynn Newman blasted a kill down at 22-24 and it looked like Magnolia was going to do it again. Unfortunately, the magic disappeared and another error later....the Lady War Eagles had perhaps their biggest moment of the year winning their first set from Magnolia at 25-22 - and putting the DAWGS on the run....
Coach J and K (and Coach Bialas) did a great job of
putting the machinery back in place against Oak Ridge!
The revitalized DAWGS came back in Set #2 with a vengenance and a line-up change. Lady Bulldog MB Hannah Fort took matters into her own hands and lit Oak Ridge up with her Hannah 'Hustle' Glide kills throughout the match taking control when the DAWGS needed it the most. Magnolia jumped out with a small lead early, then fell back, briefly at 3-4 and once OH Alicia Shaffer, OH Jamie Kaleh, and OHR Kelli Stewart got in the mix, the Magnolia Steamroller was off and running forward with a 3 point lead at 11-8; a 4 point lead at 14-10; a 7 point lead behind 2 Hannah Davies' unreturnable serves; then out to a 10 point stretch behind Michele Williams' rocket-blast inside the 10' line at 20-10; and then again, at 23-13........ and the Lady War Eagles heads were spinning like a "seasick Linda Blair doll" while wondering what just happened to their mothership! "You just woke up a pack of sleepin' Bulldogs.......what do ya' think just happened?"...... 25-13.
Lady Bulldogs Kelli Stewart (L) and Michele Williams (R)
forcing Lady War Eagle attacker to go inside with her hit.
In the 3rd set, the Lady Bulldogs played a little more steady than the second set; cutting down on the errors and again utilizing their strength in the middle position. MB Hannah Fort and MB Michele Williams continued their dominance with blocks and kills with a little help from their friends OHL Jamie Kaleh, OHR Kelli Stewart and Alicia Shaffer. Hannah finished the evening with 13 kills, Michele followed closely behind with 11, Shaffer had 8, Kaleh had 5 and Kelli and OH Kristyn Bergen chipped in 2 apiece to lead the balanced attack. Magnolia took the lead in this set and never relinquished it leading by 2 up to 13-11, before forging ahead by up to 9 points at 22-13, before easing up a bit and finishing out with a 7 point edge at 25-18. Oak Ridge just had to have that "sinking feeling" again, after this match - when they realized their upset hopes were actually vaporware, and there was still another beating to take...
Take your pick at this busy intersection...classic hit and run!
Setter Hannah Davies backsetting to Hannah Fort with a
charging Jamie Kaleh keeping Oak Ridge honest!
In this final set, the DAWGS had the Lady War Eagles firmly in their jaws and methodically dismantled their opponent with a well played offensive game finishing with an 11 point advantage 25-14. It all came together behind Caitlin Holland's 16 assists, along with setter Hannah Davies' 15 and 8 digs. MB Michele Williams led the blockers with 2 solo blocks and 4 assists and 8 digs to go with her scoring this evening; MB Hannah Fort followed closely behind with 2 solo blocks and 1 assist; OH Kristyn Bergen contributed her 2 kills with 9 digs; DS Anna Barren had 6 digs; OHR Kelli Stewart had 3 assist blocks; and OH Jamie Kaleh had 1 solo and 2 assists to go with her 4 digs. OH Alicia Shaffer led all with 10 digs. Again, one realizes that the strength of this team is the: T-E-A-M, not the individual....
Again, Magnolia never trailed in this final set and had a 5 point lead early at 10-5. The Lady Bulldogs stretched it to 8 at 16-8, before relenting somewhat allowing Oak Ridge to sneak 6 more points to their total for the game, while being bludgeoned with 9 points from the stronger DAWGS. A win is a win...it's not VideoVolleyball...and it doesn't always have to be the prettiest victory. Tonight was a re-awakening (of sorts) for this team and it was good to see the fire burning. The ladies will need it as they bear down and prepare for the second part of their season...and the State Playoffs!!
In other 5A action:
DISTRICT 15-5A
Woodlands (19-12, 7-1) swept Lufkin (11-17, 3-5) in 3 sets
25-19, 25-17, 25-11
Kills: WL — Kristen Martell 9.....LUF — Stacey Foster 9.
Conroe (10-18, 2-6) defeated College Park (2-21, 0-8) in 4 sets
25-22, 25-19, 18-25, 25-23
Kills: CP — Carol Solano 9......CON — Chera Smith 17.
DISTRICT 23-5A
FB Austin (28-6, 12-1) upset Dulles (28-4, 12-1) in 5 exciting games
29-27, 12-25, 21-25, 25-21, 15-13.
Kills: FBA — Heather Myklebust 18, Stormi Gale 18.
DUL — Brook Smith 14.
DAWGS!!! BULLDOG PRIDE!!!
