Lady Bulldogs gain bidistrict win after slow start

By Larry Tucker
editor@wood.cm
Posted 11/14/19

The Quitman Lady Bulldogs shook off a shaky start to down a feisty Dallas Madison Lady Trojan team in the Nov. 5 bidistrict volleyball playoff. Quitman scored 25-16, 25-12, 25-19 wins in the …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Lady Bulldogs gain bidistrict win after slow start

Posted

The Quitman Lady Bulldogs shook off a shaky start to down a feisty Dallas Madison Lady Trojan team in the Nov. 5 bidistrict volleyball playoff. Quitman scored 25-16, 25-12, 25-19 wins in the three-set sweep.

“Playoffs are an exciting time of the year! I was proud of my girls for getting the win,” Head Coach Ashlee Lingo said.

In the first set, Madison surprised Quitman, taking a 2-0 lead before sophomore Ava Burroughs and senior Jentri Jackson had back to back kills on sets from Shelby Hayes to take a 4-3 lead. The Lady Trojans, behind some solid play by Madison’s RoyShenai Anderson took their last lead of the set at 6-5.

Quitman responded with a pair of resounding kills from senior Maddy Whitehurst also with on target assists from Hayes. The set stayed close until the midway point when a Burroughs kill put Quitman up 15-11. The Lady Bulldogs went on a 10-5 run to end the set and take the 25-16 win.

Quitman had some uncharacteristic service and unforced errors in the first and third sets, but the Lady Bulldogs dominated the second set.

Quitman took over in the second set behind the sparkling play by outside hitters Jackson and fellow senior Julia Simpkins, along with the excellent back line play from juniors Lucy Brannon and libero Lindsey Hornaday.

Defensive specialist Hornaday answered the call with seven digs and outstanding hustle.

In the second set, a Brannon kill helped Quitman sprint to a 10-2 lead and took an 11-4 advantage on a kill by Brannon.

The Lady Bulldogs made it 18-9 on a Whitehurst kill, and Brannon finished it off with a powerful ace serve for the 25-12 final score.

The Lady Trojans kept things close early in set three and had the set tied at 4-4 when a Whitehurst kill gave Quitman a 5-4 lead they would not relinquish. With Quitman up 12-8 Madison’s Anderson hit for back to back aces cutting the score to 12-10.

The teams battled back and forth and Quitman went up 20-14 on an ace serve by Hayes. 

Quitman took a 23-16 lead but Madison scored three straight points to cut the lead to 23-19 before Burroughs ended the run as she hammered home a final kill to make it 25-19. 

For the match Jackson had eight digs, four kills, two aces; Simpkins seven kills, two aces; Hayes six digs, a kill, two aces, 23 assists; Whitehurst four digs, seven kills, two aces, one block; Brannon three digs, two kills and three aces.