DAWGS Raise the Bar Against Lady Cavaliers

It had all the elements needed for a good old-fashioned, district, barn-burner of a match: 2 good talented and hungry teams; a reverberating gym packed with intense energy; a gathering of close calls that eventually made reasoning irrationable; loud, obnoxious, opinioniated fans; all topped off with a full moon shining down on College Park High School's gymnasium. The Lady Cavaliers were lobbying for an upset, and were giving it all they had - counting on their preparation and the "whoever makes the fewest mistakes...wins!" theory to possibly slip by the Lady Bulldogs, but did not realize the depth the DAWGS emotional and physical tanks. The DAWGS were busy, undaunted and were working on the other side of the net, raising their level of play, coming after them...and they weren't holding back a bit...

Coaches J (r) and K (l) had the ladies prepared for tonight's district win.

In the first set the DAWGS didn't relinquish the lead until three quarters of the way in a see-saw battle that kept things close from the beginning. The Lady Bulldogs jumped ahead by 2 behind a Kelli Stewart kill at 2-0 and when Jamie Kaleh lit them up with 2 kills and an ace serve, a little later - they found themselves in an advantageous comfort zone of 4 points at 10-6. The Lady Cavs came back with 5 unanswered points taking the lead for the first time at 11-10, but Hannah Fort quickly had a couple of kills at 12-11 and 13-12 to keep things tight with the DAWGS leading; Michele Williams chipped in kills at 15-14, an awesome block assist with Meagan Little at 16-14, and a mighty swat at 17-16; and it was beginning to look like it was going to be a nail-biter as neither team was going to back away. A Jamie Kaleh shot at 18-17 and a Meagan Little kill at 19-18 kept the DAWGS out front; but 2 subsequent errors had College Park looking like they were right where they needed to be with a lead near 'closing' time...20 to 19. But the experienced and talent laden Lady Bulldogs dug deeper like they have for years and started pulling away at crunch time and we were able to get the end of this first set with this audio file:

Press > to Play:

GO LADY BULLDOGS!!!