Bulldog netters boast over five game battle for win against Pepin; suffer loss to Mondovi

By Kelsie Hoitomt

The Lady Bulldogs hosted a game against the number one team in the conference, the Mondovi Buffaloes, last Tuesday night where they finished 1-3. They then headed south to Pepin Thursday for a five game battle, which they won 3-2.

Battle Against Buffaloes

Excitement, intensity and serious nail biting are the words that could describe the first game against the Buffaloes that ended with the Bulldogs losing by a mere two-points of 27-29.

The game was tied more times than not throughout the battle with the Buffaloes. The Bulldogs took a lead of 22-20 after a huge block by Madysn Riek stuffed the ball back into the defenders face. Then a follow-up kill by Abbey Bird slammed hard to floor for the lead.

The score shot up to 27-26 on a kill by April Lake. Then a lengthy rally sent both teams scrambling after the ball. Kennedy Hellmann and Alexa Peterson collided, which took out Hellmann, however she managed to spring to her feet as the ball headed her way, but her pass went sideways and the game ended 29-27.

After regaining their composure, the Bulldogs hit the floor again, this time determined to get the win. Their serves were precision, which allowed Brittany Tetzlaff and Mckenzie Schultz to score 15 points between the two of them.

It was Schultz then that landed the final service ace to give the Bulldogs their only victory against the Buffaloes for a 25-17 final.

The Bulldogs slipped a bit in the third game as they lost some of their cohesiveness, which allowed the Buffaloes to outscore them 25-12.

This brought the match into a fourth set, which saw the Bulldogs ignite the spark again as they kept the Buffaloes on their toes till the end. However, they were not able to score over 20 points, which ended in a loss of 20-25 for the final.

“It was a hard fought battle and an exciting and strong match. The girls did an excellent job playing together and celebrating together. I was very proud of the way the girls united as a team and played really hard for each other,” expressed coach Taryn Score.

As a team, the Bulldogs out-killed the Buffaloes as they had 39 total kills with Lake collecting 14 of them, Bird had 11, Schultz and Riek had six and Hellmann had two. The Buffaloes posted 32 kills in four sets.

Hellmann, Bird and Schultz each had two service aces as well and Brittany Tetzlaff had one.

Road To Pepin

It was a long, hard fought battle for the victory against the Pepin Lakers last Thursday, but the Bulldogs pulled through in five games.

They lost their first game 16-25, but bounced back in the second with serious aggression as they won 27-25. They then struggled the third game and lost 15-25, but came back again in the fourth with vengeance for a 25-12 win. This sent the match into its final game, which was finalized on a serve from Schultz for a 15-8 victory.

“I was very proud of the perseverance showed by the girls. They trusted in their teammates, never gave up and it was obvious their confidence in each other and their ability to win became stronger as the match went on,” shared Score.

The night was highlighted with 17 kills from Lake, 14 from Bird, nine from Hellmann, six from Cassie Malean, three from Schultz, one from Peterson. Lake and Peterson both had three service aces, Schultz had two and Bird, Hellmann and Beyrer each had one as well.

The Bulldogs had a match at home Tuesday (Oct. 1) against Plum City and they will be back in action this Thursday (Oct. 3) in Hammond against the Panthers. Their next scheduled home game is on Tuesday, October 8 against Colfax.