Lady Bulldogs Prepare for district play

By James Wood
Posted 9/11/13

On the first day of the Tyler Tournament-Pool Play, the Lady Bulldogs played Carthage -- a 3A team -- to a close match, falling 21-25, 20-25 on Aug. 29. The Lady Bulldogs went on to win their next two matches.

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Lady Bulldogs Prepare for district play

Posted

On the first day of the Tyler Tournament-Pool Play, the Lady Bulldogs played Carthage -- a 3A team -- to a close match, falling 21-25, 20-25 on Aug. 29. The Lady Bulldogs went on to win their next two matches.

They first took on Arp, and just slipped past them 26-24 in the first game. They dominated in the second game, winning 25-13. The Lady Bulldogs then took on region foe New Boston to win 25-10 in the first game, and 25-16 in the second.

The Lady Bulldogs finished the Tyler Tournament-Bracket Play as they made it into the "Gold Bracket" on Aug. 31. The Lady Dogs fell to Robert E. Lee, a 5A school, in two games (23-25, 20-25). They also defeated 5A Lufkin in two games: 25-14, 25-10.

The Lady Bulldogs then lost to 3A Van, stretching to three games with a win in the second match (23-25, 25-21, 19-25).

After the Tyler Tournament, the Lady Bulldogs sat at eight wins and seven losses on the year.

On Sept. 3, the varsity, junior varsity and freshman teams traveled to Tyler to take on John Tyler and Robert E. Lee. The Freshman Lady Bulldogs started the night off, and fell in two games: 25-13, 15-25.

The JV team then took the court, beating John Tyler two games to one (25-10, 18-25, 25-18). The varsity Lady Bulldogs overpowered the Lady Lions, and won three games to none (25-21, 25-14, and 25-22).

The three teams then took on Robert E. Lee. The freshman team fell 12-25 in the first match, but fought back. They came up just short of the win in the second game (21-25).

The JV team lost both games -- 10-25, and 14-25. The varsity team contended with the Lady Raiders and forced the contest to five games. They won the first and third games (25-22, 16-25, 25-16, 18-25), and were 10-15 in the tiebreaker.

On Sept. 6th the Lady Bulldogs entered the Shirley Atkins Tournament in White Oak, one of the most prestigious volleyball tournaments in the region, according to head volleyball coach Ashlee Gambill.

There were teams from all classifi cations, including teams which made an appearance at state last season: teams from 1A state champion Jewett Leon and 2A state champion Brock were present.

The Lady Dogs lost the opening match to 3A North Lamar (20-25, 13-25). During this game, senior Shea Raley went down with an ankle injury and wasn't able to play for the rest of the weekend.

Beth Noble had 17 assists, Allison McKinley had eight kills and 14 digs, Kelsey Daniel had five kills and five digs and Alyssa Harris had six digs.

The Lady Bulldogs then played 5A Tyler Lee, and fell in two games (9-25, 18-25). Beth Noble had 13 assists, Allison McKinley had seven kills, Kelsey Daniel had 10 digs and Alyssa Harris had five digs.

The Lady Dogs came back in their third match to take down 3A Gilmer (25-18, 25-22). Beth Noble had five digs and 14 assists, Allison McKinley had seven digs and six kills, Kelsey Daniel had 12 digs and five kills, Shelby Herring had four kills, and Rachel Bailey had five digs.

The Lady Bulldogs were in a three way tie for second place in their pool. After adding given away points, they came out ahead of North Lamar and Gilmer. This placed them in the championship bracket.

In bracket play on Sept. 7, the Lady Bulldogs lost to 4A Lindale (18-25, 19-25). Beth Noble had 15 assists, Allison McKinley had eight digs and eight kills, Kelsey Daniel put up 10 digs and six kills and Alyssa Harris had seven kills.

The Lady Bulldogs then lost to 2A defending State Champions Brock (16-25, 19-25). Beth Noble had 14 assists, Allison McKinley had eight kills and eight digs, Kelsey Daniel had six digs and six kills and Alyssa Harris had 16 digs.

"This was a tough weekend for us, but we made it through. Any time you deal with injuries, a new line-up, and strong teams, it will be a challenge," Gambill said. "We played a lot of quality volleyball programs and gained a lot from experience from it. Hopefully this will help us as we enter district play this week."

The Lady Bulldogs took on Commerce in 14aa district play on Tuesday at home at 5 p.m., after the Democrat's press time.