Magnolia Lady Bulldog Volleyball: DAWGS 4A State Bound

The Magnolia Lady Bulldogs pulled them themselves back from the brink of elimination at 24-25 in set 4 to win and go to the final set in this best-of-5 series, against their rival and nemesis - the Brenham Lady Cubettes. The two teams have been on an unavoidable collision-course since the beginning of the season and truth-be-known, needed each other as rivals to keep striving to be better. After all, what would Batman be like without a Joker? The duel was not a disappointment! The fans, press, security, UIL representatives, and every other breathing human being were treated to a classic, Texas-style donneybrook in the Coleman Coliseum and it was almost a shame that some one had to go home without the 4A Region III trophy. I said almost. The drama, the excitement, the cheering, the friendships, the school pride, the disappointment, the tradition, the pagentry of it all .... it was all there-- bottled up in this venue and undoubtedly being experienced by everyone on both sides of the isles and on the floor!

It was a tough loss for Brenham, who also played like champions.

You can be guaranteed that you'll see them for years to come!

To get to where these teams are, you'll have to go back to the first meeting between these 'evil twins', .....errrrrr teams, on October 8th (pan out, fade back, with harp gently playing.....) with the match going the DAWGS way in 5 emotional sets inside the DAWG House; then spring -boarding 6 days forward to October 14th, traveling to their northwestern neighbor's pad in Brenham, as the host Cubettes took the DAWGS down in 4 raging games ... and of course, not without controversy thrown into the mix. Both teams were evenly matched, familiar with each other (club volleyball team mates) and played hard, clean volleyball. The end result was both squads were District 18-4A Co-Champions, but it really meant there were 2 Kings-of-this-hill with some unanswered questions. Somehow it just didn't feel right with both teams having to "agree to disagree" and take different seeded paths into the playoffs. It was hard to say who had more revenge on their minds, and even harder to say who wanted this re-match more than the other. I guess it's a good reason to take it out and settle it on the court ....that's why we play 'em folks!!!

The Lady Bulldogs were Region III 4A Champs for a

whole 5 seconds when this picture was taken!

The first set uncharacteristically went to the Cubettes 25-22 who trailed for more than the first half of the set until they forged ahead at 16-15. The DAWGS opened the set up with a Meagan Little kill at 1-0 which was followed up by Kelli Stewart at 2-0 and the Cubettes answered with a couple of kills of their own. Courtney Felinski hammered one at 4-3 before Katzy Randall went on a tear with 4 kills at (5-4, 6-5, and 7-6; and later with a backrow blast at 15-14) as Kelli rotated around and chimed in kills at 8-6, and 11-6 (and blocked 2 shots in-between). The Cubettes were hanging close-by and not going away as the teams tied themselves up 4 more times. That is, until the Cubettes serving game gave the DAWGS trouble from that point forward, starting at 21-20. The DAWGS could only muster a couple of points while playing back on their paws, as the Cubettes closed the set, going away at 25-22.

Breane Matula had a pair of kills enabling the

DAWGS for a comeback win in the second set.

Set 2, same start ... but with better results. The DAWGS led from start to finish, stretching the lead to 9 points at 11-2, thanks to a great team effort: (Paige Holland kill at 3-0, Meagan Little kill at 4-1, Courtney Felinski kill from a quick set at 7-2, then a pair of kills from Breane Matula 7-2 and 10-2, and a Kelli Stewart block at 11-2). The DAWGS continued to press forward with their powerful offense and a fast moving defense, outscoring the Cubettes by 3 over the next 10 points, with the score settling at 21-9. The teams traded points from that forward 5 to 5, unfortunately the Cubettes did not have them to spare. Final: 25-14 .... DAWGS. The sets are tied at 1-1, and now the game is afoot, only with a shorter field, as the eventual winner will just need to take the next 2-out-of-3. The place was beginning to buzz.....

Courtney Felinski and Breane Matula in perfect position

to block the Cubettes attack. It also helps to have Paige

Holland and Hannah Davies backing you up, too!

Set 3 .... role reversal? Are you kidding? Who would think otherwise? Coming off such a dominating performance, you'd think the DAWGS would hit the ground running and outdistance the Cubettes from the get-go, right? Wrong....!!! Instead the DAWGS committed 3 errors at the start and it took Kelli Stewart a couple of kills, one at 1-3 and another at 2-3, and a block at 3-3 to get the DAWGS back into the set. Unfortunately, tying the set was not going to be enough.The teams fought it out, closely tying themselves 4 times from that point without leading or trailing by more than 2 points until midway in the set at 11-11. The Cubettes played exceptional defense and methodically, dismantled the DAWGS' machine, jumping out to a 7 point advantage on a 14 to 7 run to the finsh line. Score: Cubettes 25 and DAWGS 18. The field got incredibly shorter...

Super sophomore Setter Paige Holland again moved

the ball around nicely, finishing with 53 assists!

Set 4 .... a marathon! The emotional roller-coaster, the kill-or-be-killed game; it's all or nothing; there can be just one; all the cliches could be rolled onto the court! Again, the Cubettes led early in the match...up to 4 points at 8-4, before the DAWGS roared back with 5 straight to lead at 9-8 and one burned time-out by the Cubette coaching staff. The DAWGS kept playing hard and pushing ahead behind Courtney Felinski's kill at 10-10 (to stop the momentum of 2 Cubette kills); then a Meagan Little/Breane Matula block at 11-10, followed by a Katzy Randall kill at 13-10 and a bunch of Cubette miscues and kills and another Meagan Little kill at 16-14; and a Kelli Stewart dink at 18-15 and an error later, the DAWGS had pulled ahead by 4 at 19-15 and the last timeout was called by Brenham. Once time was called back in the Cubettes scored 5 straight before the DAWGS scored one to tie the set at 20-20. The DAWGS went ahead by 2 at 22-20, then gave one back at 22-21; then traded points and added a kill at 24-22. Brenham came back with 2 points of their own at 24-24, then went ahead, smelling a chance to stab the DAWGS in the heart with a dagger and avenging their earlier district loss to the DAWGS with a kill at 25-24. Gulp! Is the DAWGIE Machine nearing extinction and grinding to its' end?

Angi Gould was giving all she had! It was this kind of effort ALL

of the ladies were giving that was needed for tonight's victory!

The DAWGS roared, "Absolutely not!" and quickly resurected themselves and blasted 3 straight to win by 2 at 27-25 and to live and fight another day! An incredible, gutsy execution at their darkest moment. The ladies are breathing on their own and it was only a flesh wound! The good news just got even better.....the match is now tied at 2 apiece and a sprint to be the first to score 15 points in the upcoming and deciding set is all that's needed by the winning team to be crowned as the Regional Champions! Holy, frijole .... you gotta love this game!!!

Katzy Randall went around the defending Cubettes ... Ya!! 14 times!

Set 5 ... The cream rises to the top! Thankfully, the DAWGS blew straight ahead out of the starting blocks, capitalizing on a lift error by the Cubettes at 1-0, then launching a missile from Kelli Stewart's arsenal at 2-0; then a Meagan Little blast of her own at 3-0; followed up by a trio of kills by Kelli at 3-1, 4-1, and at 5-1 and the DAWGS were just finding their comfort zone. The fantastic start in this nail biter was just what the doctor ordered for any of the cardio-challenged DAWG lovers! The teams split points evenly and found themselves in the same relative position at 10-4, but now with an even shorter, quick sprint ahead of themselves for the win and the prize! Again, the Lady Bulldogs pushed forward adding the extra strength that was being gathered with each new point ... and now the trophy was within their grasp! Click on the audio file below:

Senior Kelli Stewart gave another command performance

with 23 kills, 19 digs, 3 aces and 5 block assists!

Press > to Play:

The 2008 Magnolia Lady Bulldogs

4A Region III Champions

The Ladies did it! They won the right to represent the Region III as the champions and deserve every bit of it! It has been a long and tough road and the team has proved themselves against the best 4A and 5A teams in the state. They deserve and have earned our support with their hard work and are all great champions in their own right. The DAWGS' superb performance was lead by Kelli Stewart's 23 kills, 5 block assists, 19 digs and 3 aces; Katzy Randall who had 14 kills, 1 solo block, 30 digs and 2 aces; then MB Meagan Little's 11 kills, 3 block assists and 1 ace; then with Courtney Felinski's 5 kills with 3 block assists and Breane Matula's 5 kills with 1 solo and 1 block assist. Setter Paige Holland had 1 kill, 19 digs, to go with her 53 assists. Defensively, the DAWGS were sparked by libero Hannah Davies 20 digs and DS Angi Gould's 14 digs.

Defensively, senior Hannah Davies has played an inspiring season!

For the first time since 1997, the Magnolia Lady Bulldogs are going back to the State Playoffs and the date is Thursday, Nov. 20 and will be played at the Strahan Coliseum, at the Texas State University.

The 4-A Playoffs competition begins at 5 PM with our Magnolia Lady Bulldogs taking on Hereford with Highland Park taking on Lake Travis at 7 PM. You may remember Highland Park from our meeting last year in Huntsville!

The 4A Final Match will be held on Saturday at 3 PM. You can check the UIL website at www.uil.utexas.edu for all the tournament info, gate prices, etc. If you are making hotel reservations, parents will need to book rooms themselves.