DAWGS Collar Pantherettes

Lady Bulldogs Alicia Shaffer (L) and Michele

Williams (R) putting this Pantherette attack on "ice".

The Magnolia Lady Bulldogs used an array of front row blocking schemes led by seniors Michele Williams and Hannah Fort along with an added spark by Junior front row specialist Meagan Little to sweep the pesky Klein Oak Lady Pantherettes by the scores of 25-14, 25-16, and 25-21 in the Dawg House on Friday night. It was the 17th straight win at home for the Lady Dawgs under the watchful eye of head coach Terri Johnson. Seniors Brittany Wheaton and Alicia Shaffer continued their back row defensive prowess and Wheaton again led the team with 5 aces with her (DNA-like) unique serving style to help the team stay a step ahead of their worthy opponent from neighboring district 16-5A. Senior Kati Michael, Junior Hannah Davies, and freshman Paige Holland took turns running the offense efficiently. It was Michael's first action in a few contests as she recovered from a mild ankle injury suffered last week. Senior Jamie Kaleh and junior Kelli Stewart had stellar contributions (as usual) to help the TEAM stay in control throughout the evening. Senior Lynnsay Manning had a very effective and quality night as well with her excellent back row defense to round out the player contributions along with Junior Ashlynn Newman. However, this night belonged to the senior middles as they both combined for perhaps their best dual effort of the season to thwart any hopes Klein Oak may have had that they could catch the DAWGS napping.

Senior Kati Michael jump setting for a Lady Bulldog attack.

Game one started out with a familiar "Boom Boom" Williams glide and slam for the first point of the match and another killer service ace from Alicia Shaffer starting in the service rotation - to get the Ladies off to a 4-1 cushion. A double dip of Williams' kill shots and a Kelli Stewart ace serve let the Dawgs out and off to a 10-3 advantage. A couple of Alicia Shaffer kills sandwiched between a Brittany Wheaton ace serve and the Bulldogs were in total control at 16-8. The "pick your poison" combo kills by Fort, Stewart, Williams, and Kaleh upped the margin to 20-12. Another Williams' blast and a Meagan Little 'fascial' later had the DAWGS howling even more. A combo Williams/Little block was the icing on the cake as the DAWGS prevailed handily in the first set by the final score of 25-14. Great start this evening ....but the Magnolia defensive front wall was just getting warmed up in this one.

Lady Bulldogs (L to R) Jamie Kaleh, Hannah Fort and

Meagan Little with a little discussion between points.

Set two was a nip-and-tuck battle from the onset, as both teams traded point-for-point with Hannah Fort dominating the action early with a couple of attack points and a combination block with Shaffer by her side to knot the contest at 7-7. Kelli Stewart sent an untouched missile cross court for an 8-7 lead before Williams literally took over the net with 2 solo blocks and 2 assist blocks with Kaleh and Stewart respectively to push the lead to 12-9. Another "here we go again" combination of attack points by Stewart, Williams, Fort, and Kaleh as well as a "Happy Birthday" SLAM by Little gave the Dawgs a little breathing room at 17-12. Shaffer got into the act with a middle-set kill and setter Hannah Davies contributed a jump/skip ace serve to keep the Dawgs in control. Back to back Shaffer and Williams' attack points and game 2 ended with Magnolia pulling away at 25-16.

DAWGS Breanne Matula and Hannah Fort shown here shutting down an attack.

Game 3 found the Lady Dawgs trailing for the first 1/3 of the contest. Meagan Little and Kelli Stewart's attacking and serving kept the Bulldogs close at 8-8 until Brittany Wheaton's turn in service rotation came up. The senior sharp shooter served 6 successive times and this time Fort took over the net action with a kill, combo block with Shaffer, and then a solo block. Wheaton added her 2nd ace just for good measure during the service sequence to put Magnolia on top for the first time in this contest at 12-9. Stewart added an attack point to help the Lady Dawgs to a 14-12 advantage before it was Williams turn in rotation to patrol the net like it was her own personal territory. A solo block and two attack points by Williams and the lead was up to 3 at 18-15. The determined Pantherettes stormed back to close the gap to 1 at 18-17 before senior Hannah Fort took over in rotation on the front row once again. Fort contributed 2 kills to keep the Klein Oak at bay 20-18 before Wheaton opened her can of "Whupp 'Em" which was very reminiscent to Wednesday night's contest. "When you're HOT you're HOT" (they say)...... ACE..... ACE..... ACE...... Wham! 23-18... Dawgs! Another Hannah Fort solo block and the margin was up to 6 at 24-18. It took 4 attempts but Fort would not be denied as she stamped her personalized 'Seal of Approval' on this affair with a game ending attack point to close this one out at 25-21. It was a stellar effort by the highly touted and very talented senior middles for the Lady Bulldogs.

Lady Bulldog Hannah Davies going after a pass

to help her team mates transition to an attack.

Unofficially, Williams led the charge with 9 kills and 7 block/block assists. Fort added 7 kills and 4 block/block assists. Jamie Kaleh and Kelli Stewart added 5 kills with Alicia Shaffer chipping in with 4 attack points. Shaffer added 2 block/block assists while Stewart added 2 block/block assists and 2 aces. Brittany Wheaton continued her brilliant serving for the week with 5 aces including 4 in game 3. (Dig and serve receive stats were unavailable but rest assured Wheaton and Shaffer led in those categories once again. Assists were not available for this writer as well but Davies, Holland, and Michael all distributed the ball around nicely to their teammates.)

Defensive specialists Lynnsay Manning (L)

and Brittany Wheaton (R) ...'one step ahead'.

The Ladies appeared to be getting into a nice rhythm as the district season approaches and each week the TEAM chemistry continues to mold itself into championship form - one match at a time. Next varsity match will be Tuesday evening against the always tough, former rival Brenham Cubettes at the Dawg House as the Ladies go for their 18th consecutive victory at home.
submitted by: Rally Tyme MHS

GO LADY BULLDOGS!!!