The Magnolia Lady Bulldog volleyball TEAM continued their winning ways at home by defeating a very talented, determined and always tough Stratford Lady Spartans squad 26-24, 21-25, 25-21, 25-14 at the Dawg House tonight. The Lady Spartans played the experienced Lady Dawgs to a virtual draw through the first 2 1/2 games of this contest before the talented and seasoned DAWGS began to show their teeth and grit. This was a total team effort from all of the ladies as they improved to 15-7 on the season and upped their winning streak at home over the past 3 seasons to 16 straight matches!
Kelli Stewart got the night rolling with 2 quick kills to open the scoring with Alicia Shaffer bringing her lethal jump serve right out the chute to help the Lady Dawgs jump out to 5-1 advantage. A couple of Michele 'Boom Boom' Williams attack points and Jamie Kaleh kills later put the DAWGS in command at 8-4. Hannah Fort provided her firepower, sandwiched around an Alicia Shaffer dig and kill; keeping Stratford down at 12-6. The Lady Spartans then battled back to close to within a point at 14-13. The teams traded side outs until Hannah Fort came through with a key block to give the DAWGS a seemingly safe 17-14 lead. The Lady Spartans bounced back and cut the margin to 20-19 before a late Kaleh kill and net violation by Stratford closed out the exciting first game scoring at 26-24. Brittany Wheaton had an ace and some nice digs to help the DAWGS down the stretch. Hannah Davies and Paige Holland were steady and precise with their sets to help the Lady Bulldog attackers find the openings in the tough Spartan defense.
Game 2 was a tough one for the DAWGS even though both teams upped their defensive intensity and both squads played with more consistency. Stratford took the lead at 3-2 and never looked back.....although the Lady Bulldogs stayed close and came back to tie at 11-11 with another Brittany Wheaton ace and a Hannah Fort block. Another furious Lady Bulldog rally knotted the score again at 15-15 before the Lady Spartans went on an impressive 10-6 closing run to win the 2nd game 25-21.
Game 3 was another dog fight with Magnolia starting out similar to set 1 with a Kelli Stewart block point and an Alicia Shaffer jump service ace to get the DAWGS going at 3-1. Michele Williams and Jamie Kaleh then took turns punishing the visitors from west Houston while keeping the Lady Dogs in the hunt. Brittany Wheaton then scored 3 points off her service rotation aided by brilliant back-to-back digs by Paige Holland and a Stewart/Fort combo block along with another forceful Stewart cross-court slam to up the lead to 11-8. Shaffer then ripped another ace and scored 4 points on her subsequent service rotation which was helped by back-to-back Kaleh and Williams attack points- to put the DAWGS on top 17-11 and (again) seemingly back in control of the match. Once again the Lady Spartans battled back and closed to within 20-19, but another timely Hannah Fort block along with an Alicia Shaffer missile put the 'good guys' back in control at 23-20. A Stewart kill and a 'daily-double' pair of digs by Shaffer capped off by a Kaleh "white light" meteor in the middle of the court .... and Magnolia had closed out the all important 'swing game' of this best of 5 match at 25-21. But, the best was yet to come.
Game 4 started out with each team trading points until Kelli Stewart scored an ace and Jamie Kaleh followed with another attack point to up the margin to 9-5. A combo Williams/Shaffer block and a perfectly placed Hannah Davies service ace and the DAWGS were cruising at 14-7. A block and attack point by 'Boom Boom' Williams put the point margin at a half-dozen at 17-11. Kaleh again ripped another howitzer cross-court and another Fort/Shaffer combo block had the DAWGS howling at 19-13. Brittany Wheaton then took over the scoring with 4 more points to her credit on her final service rotation with 3 aces - to up the lead to 23-14. Kelli Stewart closed out the successful night for the home team with back-to-back bombs to end the match with a resounding and convincing 25-14 game victory! Wow, the DAWGS put on the afterburners!
Some unofficial stats: Jamie Kaleh led the Lady Bulldogs with 13 kills including 5 in game 1 and Michele Williams finished with a steady 11 kills. Alicia Shaffer and Kelli Stewart added 8 kills each as the attack was spread around nicely. Hannah Davies added 25 assists and Paige Holland 19 assists. Brittany Wheaton led the Bulldog defense with 20 digs with Alicia Shaffer contributing 15 digs. Wheaton also had 5 aces to lead the team with Shaffer adding 2 aces. Hannah Fort and Kelli Stewart were credited with 4 block assists each to lead the front liners. Ashlynn Newman and Meagan Little did a great job helping to round out the front row rotation for the Lady Bulldogs.
Next up for the Lady Bulldogs will be Klein Oak at home this Friday as the DAWGS go for 17 straight at home! Come out and support the ladies and help keep the streak alive as they march towards another district title and trip to the volleyball state final 4 in San Marcus, TX.
submitted by: MHS Rally Tyme
