The Magnolia High School Lady Bulldogs gave it all they had, but came up short against the seasoned, top ranked Hereford Lady Whiteface (44-3) in the Texas state 4A semifinals this evening, falling in 3 (25-18, 30-28, 25-19) tough, hard-played sets. Try as they may, the DAWGS stepped it up nearly even-ing the match in their second set, but Hereford wouldn't be derailed en route to their fifth state championship as the experienced, and impressive incumbent.
The following was condensed from LoneStar Volleyball posts:
In the first set, Natasha Giacomazzi had a couple of aces as the Lady Whiteface from Hereford (43-3) jumped to a 5-1 early lead on the Magnolia Lady Bulldogs, forcing a Magnolia time out in the 4A semifinal. When play resumed, Carley McCracken and Raegan Shelton unloaded on Magnolia and led by 8 at 13-5 in game one. Magnolia's defense had their hands full. Kelli Stewart had a couple of big kills and a block as Magnolia pulled within 5 at 16-11 and again at 18-13, but Hereford had way too many weapons for Magnolia to handle and took game one 25-18.
Magnolia settled down and came out strong as Kelli Stewart gave the Lady Bulldogs a 7-4 lead to start game two. The DAWGS expanded their lead as Meagan Little's ace gave Magnolia a 5 point lead at 14-9, which forced a Hereford time out. Meagan Little and Katzy Randall combined on a block to put Magnolia up 20-15, but a Hereford block, a Magnolia mistake and a kill by Andee Josserand cut the lead to 20-18. Kelli Stewart put Magnolia up 22-20 Josserand pulled Hereford within 1 at 22-21. Diane Knight's stuff tied it .Josserand's blast gave Hereford the lead 23-22 and Magnolia called time out. Both teams were playing at an intense level. Kelli Stewart on the slide to the middle made it 23-23. Hereford answered on Josserand's blast from the left 24-23, then committed a violation tying the score at 24-24. Katzy Randall's cross court kill put Magnolia up 25-24... Time out called by Hereford ...When time resumed, Shelton off the block tied it again at 25-25; Knight on the block put Hereford up at 26-25, when Meagan Little tied it once again, from the middle 26-26. Hereford went ahead at 27-26 on a Magnolia hitting error; then Meagan Little's soft dink in the middle tied it at 27-27.. Hereford went ahead 28-27 with the DAWGS getting into the net, then tied again at 28-28 with Josserand into the net. Hereford went up 29-28 with Josserand on a great save, then finished it 30-28 with McCracken on the stuff. The DAWGS dropped a close one, and now trailed 0-2 in the best 3-out-of-5 series.
Raegan Shelton had Hereford off to a fast start and a 9-5 lead in the third set., when timeout was called by Magnolia. Josserand gave Hereford a 2 point lead at 16-14 after Magnolia fought back from being 5 down at 14-9. Hereford started rolling from then on. Shelton's rip from the left gave Hereford a 21-15 lead. Hereford left no doubt in game three as they completely dominated the net on offense and defense to finish off the sweep at 25-19.
Magnolia was led by Meagan Little’s 9 kills in the middle. Courtney Felinksi and Kelli Stewart each had 8 and Katzy Randall had 7 as Paige Holland (29) continually looked for an offensive spark. Felinski and Randall are sophomores, “and I thought our sophomores really carried the load tonight,” said Johnson. “I was very proud of them.”
Magnolia: Paige Holland - 29 assists, 8 digs, 3 BA Angi Gould - 2 assists, 1 ace, 8 digs; Meagan Little - 9 kills, 1 assist, 2 aces, 1 BS, 1 BA Courtney Felinski - 8 kills, 1 BS, 1 BA Kelli Stewart - 8 kills, 9 digs, Katzy Randall - 7 kills, 11 digs, 1 BA Hannah Davies - 1 assist, 10 digs Breane Matula - 3 kills, 2 digs, 1 BA
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.
The Lady Bulldogs were Region III 4A Champs for a 
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!
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!
Great fun and entertainment. Folks, support your Lady Bulldogs and cheer them on to the STATE TITLE !!!
Lady Bulldogs Courtney Felinski (6) and
Breane Matula (5) at the top of their game.
The DAWGS were in a celebratory mood at the end of this one!
The DAWGS had just advanced to the Region III Finals which will be played at the very same Coleman Coliseum at 6:00 PM Saturday November 15th. The ladies will be facing their district 18-4A rival: the Brenham Lady Cubettes who happen to share the district co-championship title with the DAWGS. The Cubettes took care of the El Campo Ladybirds in the earlier match.
The Lady Bulldogs were led by senior Kelli Stewart's 17 Kills, 9 Digs, and 3 Aces; sophomore Katzy Randall who had 12 Kills, 15 Digs, with 1 Ace; senior MB Meagan Little who had 8 Kills; with sophomore MB Courtney Felinski and senior OHR Breane Matula both having 3 Kills apiece. Defensively, senior Libero Hannah Davies covered the floor for 17 Digs, with team mate sophomore setter Paige Holland totalling 10 Digs, but with an incredible 41 assists. Junior DS Angi Gould added to the war chest with 2 Aces.
GO LADY BULLDOGS!!!
OH Lady Bulldog Katzy Randall blew 3 kills by the
The Mustangs may have felt like they were experiencing 'double
vision' as Kelli Stewart pounded them for 5 kills in the second set.
The DAWGS needed to be successful hitting from the outside(s) to force the middle blocker over to double-team the block, then quick-set and/or set and hit the (open) middle area when appropiate. It also meant that a tip was just as valuable as a point, as was a crushing, crosscourt kill shot. This same strategy applied by the other team could come back to bite the 'good-guys' too! It may have been Hannah Davies finest hour as the libero was at the right place, at the right time --- at least 17 times (and more). When the Mustangs tried to dink the ball over the defending DAWGS, Hannah was there, one step ahead. When a hard-hit ball got through, Hannah was there, with her outstretched arms. Without her digs and passes the DAWGS couldn't transition back to offense, when they'd been attacked and to go after the Mustangs when they were out-of-position.
Senior MHS Lady Bulldog Hannah Davies had it all
going her way with her great play this evening.
The Lady Bulldogs never looked back from the first Meagan Little kill at 1-0 until the final buzzer. The DAWGS stampeded the Mustang herd, bombarding, then cutting the horses out, by moving the ball side to side and hitting the open lanes with blistering kill shots. For the DAWGS, it meant a Courtney Felinski Glide at 2-1; a couple of Katzy Randall missiles at 5-3, 6-3; a kill by Breane Matula on the right at 7-5; and Meagan again in the middle at 8-5. The Stangs were getting a little skiddish as the DAWGS went on a 7 point run, and the strategy was working like a charm.
Senior OHR Breane Matula controlled the left side of the Mustangs
machine, while blasting away on the DAWGS' right side.
