High flyin' senior hitter Kelli Stewart hammered the
LadyKats for 11 kills in her last home season match.
The DAWGS went right to work opening the first set and leading by 4 at 7-3 behind a couple of Kelli Stewart kills (1-1 and 4-2) and Breane Matula kills (at 5-3 and 7-3) then by outscoring the LadyKats 10 to 3 to hold a commanding lead at 17-6. In the latter part of the set, the late blooming LadyKats stiffened a bit as they traded points 7 to the DAWGS' 8, but it was too-little-too-late as Kelli Stewart ran the 'Kats out of the House, jamming 'em with 4 kills and the Lady Bulldogs flexed their muscles all the way to a 25-13 opening victory.
Senior OHR Breane Matula got the DAWGS on
track early with key kills from the right side.
The DAWGS maintained their playing intensity throughout the second set and had a 6 point advantage at 11-5 with kudos from Courtney Felinski (for kills at 4-0 and 6-1 ) and senior Meagan Little, who may have discovered her calling as a Defensive Specialist as she yielded 5 digs for the evening while hammering a kill at 10-5 and placing a strategic dink at 12-6. Senior team mate Kelli Stewart lit up the scoreboard with kills at 14-7, 15-9, 18-9, 21-9 and 22-9 before stepping aside for her senior sidekick Breane Matula who systematically put a kill on the board at 24-9 and forced the LadyKats into a couple of errors until finally falling on their swords at 25-10.
Senior MB Meagan Little had another impressive outing
while displaying her defensive skills against the Kats.
The LadyKats rose to the challenge in the third set by hangin' with the DAWGS for most of the set and led the way early by as much as 4 points at 6-10, before the DAWGS awoke from their nap and ripped off 5 straight point to jump into the lead at 11-10. The teams played it neck n' neck going forward and traded points as neither team could lead by more than 2 points at any given time and it was beginning to look like it was going down to the wire. The DAWGS had a 2 point cushion behind a Katzy Randall kill shot down the left line at 21-19, when Ashlynn Newman broke the bonds and stretched the lead to 3 with a Happy Birthday blast at 22-19 and once the LadyKats committed an error at 23-19 -- a quick time out was called by Willis in an attempt to cool down the Lady Bulldogs. As fate would have it (for the LadyKats) it turned out to be...good strategy, poor execution!
Senior Hannah Davies move to Libero has been
instrumental to the DAWGS success in 2008.
The Lady Bulldogs kept it all together finishing 25-22 with a clean sweep (for the second time against Willis) and a final Senior celebration with well deserved recognition (and a quick pass by the table loaded with cupcakes), was all that was left to make it another great win, evening, and season for the Lady Bulldogs at their beloved DAWG House!
Senior hitter Ashlynn Newman is 'hitting her
stride' as the DAWGS go into the state playoffs.
Kelli Stewart led the way for the DAWGS with 11 kills for the evening (and 504 for the season) with 10 digs and an Ace; followed by 7 kills from Meagan Little with 2 block assists, 5 digs and an ace; Katzy Randall who had 6 kills, 1 block assist and 10 digs; Ashlynn Newman who had 5 kills, 1 block assist and 2 digs; Courtney Felinski who had 3 kills and 1 dig and Breane Matula had 4 kills. Helping the hitters out with 29 assists was another walk in the park for sophomore Paige Holland, who also played good defense with senior Hannah Davies who finished the evening with 8 digs and an Ace serve.
A couple of good reasons why the DAWGS are at the top
of the District: seniors DS Chelsea Rauscher (Top) and
All Around / hitter, Sarah Bacho (Bottom).
Next up for Magnolia: Friday evening tune-up for State Playoffs against Oak Ridge in the DAWG House. This will be the last chance to catch the Lady Bulldogs at home and will be varsity only and begin at 5 pm. Oak Ridge parents will be dressing up for Halloween...so get your costumes out!! Let's get spooky, in good fun! Get ready for a surprise appearance from Batman...and some small candy for the kids to trick or treat! Come out and support the Lady Bulldogs!!
Teamwork and Success go hand-in-hand. (left to
right) seniors: Jordan Kennedy/trainer, Hannah Davies,
Chelsea Rauscher, Kelli Stewart, Meagan Little, Breane
Matula, Ashlynn Newman, and Sarah Bacho.
Please add the playoff games to your calendars! We will be playing with times and sites to be announced as we progress! Brackets can be found at www.uil.utexas.eduMOVING TOWARD THE PLAYOFFS ONE MATCH AT A TIME! LADY BULLDOG PRIDE!
