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Looks like a happening .... a Lady Bulldog Block Party!!!
It must've been DejaVu. It had to be ... 2 sweeps in 2 days; both Cougars; and both good teams and former district rivals! The DAWGS first piled on 'em and then put the hammer down on Tomball tonight taking the Cougars down in 3 sets (25-10,25-19, and 25-20). Again it was a total team effort from the Lady Bulldogs (7-2) with intimidating jump serving that kept Tomball a little off guard and a little skiddish.
In the opening game it looked at first like the DAWGS were the ones who were nervous. Tomball jumped out with a 2-0 lead, taking advantage of 2 Bulldog serve-receive errors, then turned around and had 2 errors of their own, tying the set up at 2-2. Michele Williams really confused them with a left handed kill at 3-2; Jamie Kaleh gave them a glimpse of a fast moving missle at 4-2; then Alicia Shaffer freaked them with her serving at 5-2 and 6-2 and before they knew it, Magnolia had scored 6 straight. The defense became even stingier going forward while Michele had a kill at 9-4; Hannah Fort perfected her 'Hannah Glide' at 11-5 and Alicia's "Happy Birthday" gift at the net stretched the DAWGS to their biggest lead in the first set to 8 at 13-5. The shell-shocked COOGS could only muster 5 more points in the game while committing a ton of errors - while their rivals from the Dark Side (yep, that's Magnolia) served their way to a 25-10 finish.
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Lady Bulldog Alicia Shaffer throwing one of her 9 heaters for the evening.
Game 2, Part Deaux opened with a Hannah Davies serve that was unreturnable (by any mere mortal) for a 1-0 lead before Magnolia committed the next 2 errors - as in the first game. Kelli Stewart turned that around with a kill tying the teams at 2-2; then both teams went on error sprees. It wasn't pretty, but the COOGS were up 12-8 and it was starting to feel like the rivalry was awakening. The climb was treacherous beginning with a Hannah Fort block at 10-12; then an Alicia Shaffer shot off the COOGS defenders' hands at 11-13; a Hannah Fort/Kelli Stewart block assist at 13-13; then a few errors later - Alicia Shaffer surgically slams one down the right sideline at 14-15; a Jamie Kaleh kill at 16-17; a 'Boom Boom' Glide kill at 18-18 then a Williams' block on the very next point at 19-18; followed by another Kelli Stewart kill at 20-18; and the COOGS began to lose steam and close down. The DAWGS put 5 points up with Tomball adding 1 and the final was in the books at 25-19..jpg)
Kelli Stewart (l) and Michele Williams (r) teaming up to trap a Cougar.
Here we are in Game 3, the swing game in a best 3-of-5 series as it started out like it was an Errorapolusa....as both teams committed nothing but errors on each and every play (but one) until the score reached a DAWGIE low of 5 points to the COUGARS' biggest lead of 4 - at a total of 9 points. Paige Holland rallied the troops and picked the DAWGS up with a service point at 6-9; Hannah added 3 kills at 7-9, 8-10 and temporarily tied the teams up at 11-11; then 4 more errors in the next 5 plays put the score at 12-15 and it didn't look too good for the DAWGS. Alicia Shaffer put a kill down at 13-15; then Kelli Stewart added another Cougar pelt to her collection at 14-16; then a couple of Jamie Kaleh kills (at 15-16 and at 17-17) doused whatever hopes Tomball had of pouncing on their DAWGIE rivals in this last game and keeping them down. This audio file picks up the action from there:.jpg)
Lady DAWG OHR Ashlynn Newman closing the door on a Tomball attack.
Alicia Shaffer had 9 Kills, 8 Digs, 5 Aces, and 1 Block Assist; Jamie Kaleh had 7 Kills, 6 Digs; Michele Williams had 6 Kills, 1 Solo block, 1 Block Assist; Hannah Fort with 6 Kills, and 3 Block Assists; Kelli Stewart had 2 Kills with 2 Block Assists; Hannah Davies finished with 14 Assists; and Paige Holland had 8 Assists. Ashlynn Newman had a Block Assist.
