Weekend sees mixed results for Sundance volleyball team

The Lady Bulldogs stayed close to home this week as they traveled to Upton on Friday and played host to the Wright Panthers on Saturday afternoon.

Opening play for the weekend on Friday in Upton, the Lady Bulldogs swept the Lady Bobcats 3-0. While Sundance seemed to control the momentum throughout game one, game two saw the Lady Bobcats challenge the Bulldogs, making them work just a little harder to secure the 30-28 win.

Game three put the Bulldogs back in control, allowing them to take a 25-18 win and secure the overall victory over the Bobcats.

The Wright Lady Panthers were in town on Saturday to take on the Lady Bulldogs in their first conference matchup of the season. The opening game had the fans in the stands on their feet for both teams and the Lady Bulldogs and Lady Panthers battled it out.

With the score tied at 17, Sundance called a timeout in hopes of gaining their composure and control of the ball. Unfortunately for them, the Lady Panthers were looking to do the same thing.

The lead continued to pass from one side to the other until Wright capitalized on the Lady Bulldogs mistake, and took a 25-23 victory.

The loss did not affect the Lady Bulldogs for very long, as they opened up game two with a striking lead behind the serving of Aspen Jones. The Lady Panthers were not happy with their situation and called a timeout, trailing the Lady Bulldogs 1-6.

After the timeout, both teams seemed to be getting the feel for their offense as the gap was closed and it was once again a back and forth to 25. It was, however, Sundance who reached the magic number first when Zoe Skeens stepped up to the serving spot and helped to bring the Lady Bulldogs a 25-23 victory in game two.

Game three found the Sundance offense struggling to return the striking serves of Dani Barnhurst and the Lady Bulldogs fell 16-25. The intensity in game four was much like those in games one and two.

Both teams, evenly matched, were serving and returning point for point. Makaya Gillespie helped the Lady Bulldogs string together a few points as she had six serves in a row. The Panthers called a timeout shortly thereafter and spoiled the Bulldog momentum.

It was Shelby Smith who helped to bring the victory for the Panthers as she ended the matchup with a string of seven serves, helping the Wright Panthers take a 25-22 victory in game four, giving them a 3-1 overall victory.

Head coach Chelsey Blasczyk reflected on the week's games with the following statement: "We played our first conference game this weekend and learned that we need to be willing to take risks to score points. This team has a tendency to play it a bit safe so that resulted in a loss against Wright. We will be working on building confidence in sending aggressive attacks this week."

The Lady Bulldogs will host the Hulett Red Devils on Tuesday this week and travel to Tongue River to face the Eagles on Friday.

Stats

SHS vs. Wright: 23-25, 25-23, 16-25, 22-25

Rachelle Miller: 8 assists, 5 digs, 1 kill

Jaylin Mills: 7 kills, 17 assists, 11 digs

McKaya Gillespie: 11 kills, 1 block, 2 aces, 7 digs

Zoe Skeens: 5 kills, 1 block, 10 digs

Lexie Marchant: 8 kills, 5 blocks, 8 digs

Aspen Jones: 1 kill, 1 assist, 1 ace, 6 digs

Sydney Penning: 3 assists

Mazelynn Sharp: 3 digs

Hailey Karol: 1 kill, 3 assists

SHS vs. Upton: 25-20, 30-28, 25-18

McKaya Gillespie: 1 ace, 7 digs, 7 kills, 1 block

Aspen Jones: 3 digs, 3 kills, 1 assist

Jaylin Mills: 4 aces, 6 digs, 6 kills, 19 assists, 1 block

Zoe Skeens: 2 digs, 7 kills

Rachelle Miller: 1 ace, 5 digs, 10 assists

Lexie Marchant: 6 digs, 7 kills, 1 block

Sydney Penning: 1 kill, 1 assist, 1 block

Shannon Gilmartin: 2 kills