Well, Bulldog Fans: it was another evening of exciting volleyball in the DAWG HOUSE as the Magnolia Lady Bulldogs hosted the Cy Falls Lady Eagles in a best 3-of-5 non district 5A match. What started out as a cold-cranking, slow-moving machine turned into a high octane, muscle-shaped, volleyball engine midway through the first set pushing the ladies to victory (25-18) and carrying them over to the second set (25-19); and all the way through to the last point of the final set (25-10) for the sweep.
In Set 1 the Lady Bulldogs opened the match slowly with the Lady Eagles eager to show their stuff and before they knew it, the Eagles had jumped out to a 3-1 lead, but when an out-of-rotation call cost them a point at 2-4 - the Lady Bulldogs were never seemingly out-of-sight (or reach) from that point on. An Alicia Shaffer dink at 3-4 temporarily pulled the Lady Dawgs close, and a follow up kill at 5-8 kept the Dawgs in the hunt, but when Kristyn Bergen had two kills (at 7-10 and 8-10) the noose got a little tighter and the Eagles were beginning to feel surrounded. When Kati Michael hit the ball of the Eagles' hands to tie it up at 11-11, the Dawgs began a 'push' behind a Michele Williams' kill at 12-11, a Alicia Shaffer hit off the Eagles at 17-14, and another Boom Boom kill at 18-15 had the Eagles grounded and one step closer to being firmly trapped in the Dawgs' jaws. When MB Hannah Fort Happy Birthday'd a floating pass over the net into a monster kill at 21-15 and another Alicia Shaffer kill at 23-18.....it was the beginning of the end for our endangered guests...25-18 final: Dawgs take set #1.
Set #2 started off eerily similar to the first set but with a slight change in the lineup. Kelli Stewart led the Dawgs scoring off with a dink at 1-3; which was followed up by a 'demoralizing' shot down the right line by Michele Williams to make it 2-4; and when Hannah Fort hit a nice kill in the middle at 6-5 and Alicia followed that up with a kill at 7-5, it looked like the Dawgs had put it all together. The Lady Eagles had 'no quit' in them either and initially kept it close, then went ahead by 2 at 13-11, before Michele 'Boom Boom' Williams woke the Dawgs up with a hard slam down the right line at 12-13 and blocked an Eagle's attack at 14-16 to once again turn the Lady Bulldogs in the right direction - but this time it was for good! Hannah Fort and Kelli Stewart worked together to assist in a blocked point at 17-17 and when Hannah blistered another nice kill at 20-17; followed by Alicia Shaffer killing a shot just in the boundaries of the backline at 21-17; and then blasting an even more impressive kill down the right line at the top of her 'Hannah Glide' at 24-19, the Lady Eagles once again, had to have that sinking feeling in the pit of their stomachs ....... score: 25-19.
Lady Bulldog Ashley Howe shown here with a perfect pass.
Hannah Fort and Alicia Shaffer assist the block to ground the Lady Eagles.
Set #3 and it was ALL Dawg!!........The Lady Bulldogs outscored the Eagles 9-0 with a nifty defensive plays, starting with a great point saving pass from Alicia Shaffer at 2-0, a Michele Williams' block at 5-0 then following that up with a Bergen-Williams assist block at 8-0; only to have Kristen Bergen slam a Happy Birthday pass that scattered the Lady Eagles in all directions at 9-0. The Dawgs continued their assault by scoring 10 points to Cy Falls' 3 and ran the score to 19-3 behind Kristyn Bergen's back-row hit at 11-1, then a 'sidewinder kill' by Alicia Shaffer at 12-1; Michele Williams' kill at 16-3; Hannah Fort block at 17-3, and another assist block with Alicia and Hannah at 18-3. The Lady Dawgs let up a little on the reins and coasted from that part forward, to 21-5, 22-6, 23-8, and a final, merciful finish at 25-10. Kills: CYF (8-11, 1-1) — Pennington 8; MAG (17-7) — Shaffer 8, Bergen 8.
The ladies remained focused when things weren't going right and kept working hard to get themselves playing together... Looking good, Lady Bulldogs! It's been said before: when it's all working together - it's a thing of beauty!!
