The Quitman Lady Bulldogs opened District 12-3A play with a big road win, taking down Lone Oak 25-15, 25-16, 25-18 Friday afternoon. It was the first of three straight games on the road to open district play.

Quitman got solid all-around team play. “We had a great team effort and we keep improving every game we play. We definitely have our work cut out for us this week against two good teams,” Head Coach Ashlee Lingo said. “It’s tough to win on the road in this district and we have to go to Grand Saline and Rains who are both tough teams.”

The win gives Quitman a 15-10 record for the season and 1-0 in District 12-3A. Statistics for the Lone Oak win were: Shelby Hayes 23 assists, 10 digs, two kills, two aces; Jentri Jackson 12 digs, six kills, two aces; Madalyn Spears eight digs, 11 kills, four aces; and Ava Burroughs 10 kills, three blocks.

In their final tune-up before district, the Lady Bulldogs got a measure of revenge taking an exciting five-set win at Van over a Lady Vandal team who had defeated them earlier this year in a tournament final match. “It was a great and exciting win for us, just what we needed before district starts,” Lingo noted.

The close scores were 25-18, 22-25, 23-25, 25-17, 15-13. For Quitman, Jackson had 31 digs, 11 kills, one ace; Spears 26 digs, 21 kills and one block; Emma VanBeclaere 19 digs, one kill one ace; Hayes 52 assists, seven digs, two kills, one ace; Burroughs one dig, 11 kills, two blocks; Lindsey Hornaday 11 digs, two kills, four aces; Whitehurst two digs, seven kills, three blocks; and Julia Simpkins two digs, three kills.

Quitman plays at Grand Saline at 5 p.m. Tuesday and at Rains Friday with a 4:30 p.m. first serve.