Busy week sees Boyceville volleyball gain second win
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
BOYCEVILLE SENIOR Ella Holden (#12) smashed this shot over the net in an October 7 home match versus the Wolves of Elmwood/Plum City. —photo by Shawn DeWitt
The Boyceville volleyball squad secured its second win of the season and its first in nearly six weeks at the conclusion of a busy week that saw the Bulldogs play five teams at three different locations.
After losing a pair of three-set matches on the road in Amery last Monday and at home Thursday against Elmwood/Plum City, Boyceville went to Somerset for a Saturday tournament where the Bulldogs won one of their three matches.
After dropping matches to both Somerset and Stanley-Boyd in the Spartans’ October 9th invitational, Boyceville capped the tournament and week with a two sets to none sweep of Shell Lake to give the squad its first victory since a 3-2 win over Pepin/Alma back on August 31.
The Bulldogs, 0-5 in conference and 3-21 overall, will close out the regular season with a pair of conference contests this week. They hosted rival Glenwood City last evening in battle of winless conference clubs and will play in Mondovi on Thursday.
WIAA regional competition begins next Tuesday, October 19. Boyceville will play in the Division 3 Shell Lake Sectional. Bracket match-ups had not yet been determined when the Tribune Press Reporter was printed Tuesday afternoon.
Amery
Boyceville got off to a slow start in Amery last Monday, October 4 losing the first two sets 15-25 and 9-25 in a match-up that was postponed the previous month due to COVID-related issues.
The Bulldogs finally came to life in the third set where they pushed the host Warriors throughout the game before finally falling by two points – 23-25 – to lose the set and match.
The Bulldogs collected 15 kills in the match as senior Ella Holden led the way with seven, Libby Bygd had three and Lacota Brown two. Harper Olson led the team in assists with six and Torrie Bland recorded four along with two of the team’s four ace serves.
Brown and Bygd also topped the team charts with 11 digs each. Hannah Dunn added nine and Hailey Hanestad and Bygd had five each. In all, the Bulldogs finished with 51 digs.
Elmwood/Plum City
Boyceville also started slowly against Elmwood/Plum City when it hosted the Wolves in conference action last Thursday, October 7.
Elmwood/Plum City, one of two teams with an unblemished conference record (the other being Colfax), dominated Boyceville in the opening set 25-7.
DIVING SAVE — Junior Jacey Guy made a diving save on the volleyball in an October 7 home match against Elmwood/Plum City.
—photo by Shawn DeWitt
The Bulldogs, however, played much better in the ensuing two sets but were unable to prevail in either as it lost those sets and the match, 21-25 and 18-25.
The statistics also supported the Wolves victory.
Elmwood/Plum City held a nearly three to one advantage in kills – 33 to 12, assists – 29 to 11, and service aces – 11 to 4.
Bygd and Hanestad had four kills each to lead the Bulldogs while Harper Olson and Bland had six and four assists, respectively.
The Bulldogs finished with 49 digs against the Wolves as Brown and Bland each tallied 11.
Somerset Tournament
The Bulldogs traveled to the western side of St. Croix County to play in the Somerset Invitational last Saturday, October 9.
The Bulldogs went 1-2 in the tournament dropping 0-2 matches to host Somerset and Stanley-Boyd before flipping the script to earn a 2-0 win over Shell Lake.
Boyceville drew the host Spartans in the opening round and fell 25-13 and 25-18 as Libby Bygd had six kills, Hailey Hanestad added four and Ella Holden and Harper Olson registered three each. Olson also had 11 assists and Torrie Bland finished with 14 digs.
In another two sets loss to Stanley-Boyd, 25-15 and 25-9, Bygd led with four kills, Olson had eight assists and two service aces and Holden finished with seven digs while Hanestad and Cambrie Reisimer chipped in for four digs each.
The Bulldogs’ six-week dry spell ended when they swept a pair of tight sets by identical scores of 25-23 from Shell Lake to finish the tournament with a win. In that match, Bygd again led with seven kills, Olson added nine assists and three aces, Hanestad and Bland each registered four digs and Holden had a solo block.