The Lady Bulldogs played at least an hour earlier than they normally do, so the fans could make it a 'double-header' and catch the beginning of the varsity football game, but made short work of their eastern rival and found the crowd growing larger and louder as the match got closer to it's end. The statistics tell the story for this evening with a slightly different look: For Kills.... senior Jamie Kaleh led the way with 10, 1 Block Assist, and with 1 Ace serve; followed by junior Kelli Stewart who blistered them with 8 kills, 1 Solo block, and 2 Aces; senior MB Hannah Fort who totalled 7 kills, 1 solo, and 4 assist blocks; along with (All American) Michele Williams who finished the evening with 7 kills (while looking great gracing the cover of RISE magazine); then followed up by Alicia Shaffer who had 6 kills, 1 block assist and 1 ace. Junior OHR Meagan Little blasted the Lady Highlanders with 3 kills and 2 block assists. Defensively, the DAWGS spread the wealth around nicely with 12 digs from the 15-5A district leader: Brittany Wheaton; then Shaffer with 9; and Jamie Kaleh and Hannah Davies with 8 digs apiece; followed with Paige Holland's 5 digs to compliment her 14 set assists and 2 serving aces. Junior Hannah Davies led the way with 25 assists to go along with her 8 digs, but led ALL comers with 4 Aces. The DAWGS had 'em coming and going!
In the opening set, Magnolia went ahead 3-2 and never had to look back. A flurry of attacks from Lady Bulldogs' Kelli Stewart and Jamie Kaleh had the Lady Highlanders looking for higher ground while the DAWGS clawed their way to a 4 point edge at 12-8; then dug a little further to 6 at 19-13; then throttled up to an 8 point edge for the remainder of the set behind some more impressive firepower out of the Stewart and Kaleh tandem; until finishing the opener with a 'bruiser-of-a-shot' by Meagan Little who blasted the ball off an unlucky Lady Highlander's hands for the win at 25-17. As the saying goes, "You can call 'em butter, 'cause they're are on a roll..."
In the second set, the DAWGS were a model of consistency as they systematically took their district foe apart with their quick and opportunistic offense that sometimes had to work patiently to find an opening needed to get the ball over the net and down on the floor. The result was some great volleys as the Lady Highlanders had no intentions of letting up and gave it all they had, but again Magnolia was able to come at them from various angles while playing great defense on their own. Essentially tonight, ....The Woodlands didn't have enough horses. The DAWGS jumped to a 12-3 lead coming out of the gate then played (basically) 'even-ball', trading points to lead at 20-11; then pulled ahead with some exciting play to set point; and then culminating the match with another 'heat seeker' from Magnolia's (lovable) missle launcher: .......(yes, that's right) .... Jamie Kaleh at 25-13. The DAWGS played even better defense than before, and were the 'lead dog' in this DAWG pen!
Just when the visitors thought they'd seen enough, the Lady Bulldogs raised the bar even higher in this final set. Magnolia started out a little slower than the previously, taking the lead at 3-2 then control at 7-5 ....well, control may have been an understatement.... the DAWGS ripped off 10 straight points behind a mixed array of attackers that took the wind out of the Lady Highlanders once and for all, at 17-5! Magnolia and the ladies traded points scoring 8 to The Woodlands' 6, behind some exciting and intense volleys as both sides gave the crowd their monies' worth. The ladies played some great DAWGIE 'D' (for DEFENSE), appeared to be getting stronger as the match wore on and closed 'em out at 25-11 .... driving their opponents' scoring down from 17 to 13, and down to 11.
The Lady Bulldogs have completed the first half of their 15-5A district schedule and have a clean sweep of 15 set wins against no losses going for them and seem to be gathering momentum that will certainly be valuable as the ladies try to peak at the end of the schedule!
Next up - Away at Conroe 6:00 PM... BE THERE!! The ladies deserve your support!! Follow the ladies as they make their run through the state playoffs!!
GO LADY BULLDOGS!!
