Lady Bulldog JV
2nd place at Bryan Tournament
Lady Bulldog 9A Team
Bryan 9A Tournament 3rd Place
(front) Victoria Birdwell, Audrey Cassata,
Kaitlyn McShan, and Cristina Anderson
(back) Madison Butler, Sarah Bodin,
Senior DS Chelsea Rauscher was at the
right place at the right time for this dig!
The DAWGS put the Lady Falcons to rest in this one, folks!
There were a couple of anxious moments for the Lady Bulldog fans as the DAWGS had a temporary case and went "error-i-tous" on us and trailed the Lady Falcons for the first half of this one. Once Breane Matula hit one off the Lady Falcons' hands at 12-13, Kelli Stewart threw a block up for another point to tie it up at 13-13; and after the ensuing time out - Paige Holland scored one of her 4 kills, followed by sophomore team mate Courtney Felinski's block at 15-13 and you get the idea .... the gate was open and the Lady Falcons had scattered.
Courtney Felinski's block at 15-13 put the icing on the
cake, as the DAWGS forged ahead for the match win.
Kelli Stewart hitting through the
block for one of her 11 kills.
Coach J (middle) and Coach Yarotsky (left) giving
last minute instructions as the DAWGS listen in.
MB Meagan Little shown here
winding up, ready to unleash a kill!
Lady Bulldog Breane Matula chased this one
down to transition the play for her team mates!
from the desk of Coach J:
2008 Spring Branch Tournament Silver Champions
The Magnolia Lady Bulldogs played nearly flawless volleyball throughout their Spring Branch Tournament play and finished at the top with the Silver Championship. Noticably, the key word in the statement is "nearly". That's because it's almost impossible to play flawlessly, but teams must play without any weaknesses, doubts, and unbelievable skill to go all the way in tournaments where the teams are so evenly matched. Teams at this point in the season can be playing to the top of their abilities and that's about all anyone can ask for. The DAWGS did just that Saturday morning and afternoon. The ladies consistently played brilliantly all day long; as well as they've played at any time this season and the monkey was on their opponents' backs. Everything can be going right, and then one small insignificant event can occur, and the slight imbalance sends everything into chaos. It doesn't hurt to have Lady Luck smiling on you either.
Kelli Stewart's kill shot captured with
the fastest shutter speed known to man!
Kelli Stewart inked 11 kills with Katzy Randall adding 4 kills of her own alongside her 10 digs, while Paige Holland set up 25 assists for her team mates.
The Lady Bulldogs prepare for their match against Jersey Village.
Sophomore Lady Bulldog Katzy Randall
had a busy evening digging Cy Fair hits.
Senior Lady Bulldog OH Kelli Stewart led the DAWGS with 17 kills and were all well earned, but OHR Meagan Little had the best hitting percentage of the night for the DAWGS as she hammered the ball between and around double-teamed defenders shifting back and forth between both of Magnolia's outside hitters.
The match record for Magnolia now stands at 7-6 and one can't help but believe all this tough competition against most of the elite teams in the state of Texas is actually helping the ladies play better with more consistency. After all, a player must perform at the highest level on every play, day-in-and-day-out, without letting up or dropping her guard down for a moment. We can only imagine, the younger players are absorbing a ton of invaluable experience about right now that will pay dividends later.
Even though the season is young, the Lady Bulldogs have already tackled some of the best 5A and 4A volleyball teams in the state from different regions and will likely see most of these teams late in the season marching towards the state playoffs. It's been said more than once, "It's not how you start that counts, it's how you finish!"
Senior OHR Lady Bulldog Meagan Little had the
best hitting percentage of the evening for the DAWGS!
Senior Middle Blocker Breane Matula put the brakes on this one!
GO LADY BULLDOGS!!!
The DAWGS celebrated their short
lived 25-19 victory in their third Set.
The 'Cats are expected to be the last one standing in the District 15-5A finals at the end of the season and will be certainly vying for Regional honors and more. The 18-4A Magnolia Lady Bulldogs are taking a little different route while facing the top district contenders up and down the line, in both 5A and 4A districts (Duncanville Tournament of Champions) and will no doubt match up with some more of Texas' elite squads over the next couple of weeks - in tournament play (Spring Branch and Pearland). You can pretty much bank on the DAWGS will be in the hunt as well.
Lady Bulldogs Courtney Felinski and Meagan Little
teamed up to shut down the Lady Wilcats' attack.
The Lady Bulldogs have been busy grinding it out with tough opponents since their season opened and will be facing more as 'Tournament play' ramps up.
The DAWGS gave it all they had and still
came up short in this match against Red Oak.
This one was all Red Oak as the new and improved 2008 Lady Hawks schooled the DAWGS 25-18 in this match with some nifty ball control, defensive footwork, and opportunistic hitting. It wasn't as close as the score appeared to be in the first set (18-25) as the DAWGS added some points in a late, comeback attempt in the 'eye opener' and the Lady Bulldogs are putting it all together in this spirited second set. The ladies are going to need to make it happen now, if they're planning to win the Consolation Bracket. We're in Set 2 of this one:
Lady Bulldogs Katzy Randall (L), Courtney Felinski (M)
and Meagan Little (R) playing ferocious defense!
The second set started out a little precariously with the DAWGS trailing Keller, but ending up closely mirroring the set beforehand. The DAWGS took control when tying the Lady Indians at 5-5 and again, did not look back. The widest margin for Magnolia was 7 points at 20-13, and the Lady Indians crept back slowly in this set while holding the DAWGS at bay, when this file comes up:
The ladies couldn't hold it in any longer as
they trounced the Lady Indians from Keller!
The DAWGS are facing the Keller Lady Indians in their first match of the morning and looking forward to fighting their way to the top of the Consolation Bracket. The ladies put it together nicely with a combined effort of strong offense and transitional defense. The Lady Bulldogs took charge at 6-6 and never trailed again in this set as this file picks up late at 24-20:
The ladies were stressing a little with their preparations..
The Lady Bulldogs are in control in this one at 22-19 when this file picks up:
Press > to Play:
The Tascosa Lady Rebels were unable to break through
the Courtney Felinski - Katzy Randall "Wall"...
This match was a good one to see where both programs are heading as two evenly matched teams face each other in an increasingly important match. The DAWGS seemed to be playing better as this one went along, despite leading the match from the beginning. They were only tied once at 10-10 and stretched their lead to 7 at 23-16 before finishing up in Set 1, 25-17. This file is a recap:
A pot of GOLD at the end of the rainbow...
2008 Magnolia HS Lady Bulldogs going UP !!
Soph setter Paige Holland setting one of her 56 assists.
Senior LB Hannah Davies saved this
one of 15 for her team mates.
An impressive evening of 29 Kills for
unstoppable senior Kelli Stewart!
Coach J urging the team forward for the win!
Senior MB Breane Matula's scoring surge in the final set
closed the door for any Cougar thoughts of a comeback.
The final set was "ALL DAWG.. vintage "ALL DAWG"! Though it is not the normal protocol to lead the entire match without losing the momentum and the lead several times, the DAWGS did just that - much to the appreciation of the fans! I think everyone wanted this one to be over, and over soon! Again Kelli Stewart was relentless with another 10+ Kills in the set. Kelli mixed her shots up with crosscourt kills, kills down the line, through the double team defenders, over the top, etc ... you name it, she did it! Breane Matula had an outstanding set with a stretch of 5 points for the 'good guys' when the DAWGS began to assert themselves for good! Paige Holland's quick sets turned into quick Breane kills, which resulted in quick points at 13-11, 14-11, and 15-12. Breane's kill at 17-12 forced Tomball to try to break the momentum by calling for their final timeout, only to resume play and have Breane block the next Tomball attack for a lead of 6 at 18-12. The DAWGS never looked back and rattled of 7 points to Tomball's 4 to put this highly anticipated match behind them and the season off to a good start.
The Lady Bulldogs had a short moment
to savor the well deserved win!
