Bulldogs pull off 3-1 win against Lakers, Blue Devils

By Kelsie Hoitomt

BOYCEVILLE – Intense is the word used to describe the volleyball match between the Bulldogs and the Pepin Lakers on Tuesday, September 25.

The Lakers were ranked seventh in the Dunn-St. Croix Conference, just below the Bulldogs and they put up quite the competitive fight.

The first set was won by the Bulldogs 25-18, but they seemed to lose their communication and composure in the second match, which resulted in a Pepin blow-out of 8-25. The Bulldogs then came back to win the following two sets 25-14 and 25-17 to seal the win.

“The girls started the match off pretty well, we just didn’t put a run together until the end. The second game just seemed like nothing went right for us, but I was really impressed with how the girls were able to regroup and come back strong the third game and then finish the fourth as well,” explained  coach Taryn Score. “Kysa Franseen served well as did Emma Lorenz. Mckenzie Schultz played libero for us for the first time this season and did a solid job. Abbey Bird had a couple big kills that got everyone pumped up and Lorenz placed the ball well and April Lake and Franseen worked hard at the net”.

The game leaders for the night were Lorenz with 35 attack attempts and Franseen had four service aces.

So far this season, Lake is ranked fifth in the Dunn-St. Croix Conference for attack kills with 105 total. The leader is Kaysi Meindel of Elk Mound with 163 total kills.

Sophomore Alexa Peterson is ranked second for set assists with 253, which is just behind Becca Kopp of Elk Mound with 279.

Bird is ranked third for defensive digs with 168 and Franseen is ranked fourth with 155 digs.

All of the statistics were taken from the Wisconsin Sports Network online at wissports.net.

Road trip to Plum City

The Bulldogs went on the road for their game against Plum City on Thursday, September 27, where they beat the number two ranked Blue Devils 3-1.

The Blue Devils were undefeated going into the conference match until the Bulldogs defeated them 25-23, 25-19, 25-14 with one loss of 21-25.

“We knew that Plum City was going to be a tough team, but the girls came to the floor ready to play and play they did,” said coach Score. “I was very proud of how hard they worked”.

Lake led the team with 12 kills, Franseen had ten, Bird had nine and Lorenz had eight.

“Emma hit a variety of shots, she has the ability to go line, cross and tip so she kept the defense honest, even if it wasn’t a scoring play,” said Score.

Peterson lead the game in set assists with 36 and she also had the game high in service aces with five.

All together, the Bulldogs played a solid game against the number two Blue Devils with just three errors in the entire four match series.

“This was a fantastic win for the girls, they played to the potential that we, as a coaching staff, always knew they had,” shared Score.