Volleyball season comes to a close

The 2022 volleyball season came to a close for the Sundance Lady Bulldogs at the Regional Tournament this past weekend in Burns. Coming in as the number three seed from the north, the Lady Bulldogs opened tournament play against the number two seed from the south, Lingle Fort Laramie.

This was a tight matchup throughout all four sets. Sundance was able to squeeze out the first win in set one, taking a narrow 25-22 victory. The next three, unfortunately, went to the Doggers and the Lady Bulldogs were knocked out of the championship bracket. 

Round two put the Bulldogs in the early game on Saturday against the Lusk Tigers. It was a quick win for the Lady Bulldogs who were able to sweep the Tigers three sets to none, and move on to play for third place and a spot in the state tournament.

In their final game of the regional tournament, the Lady Bulldogs had to face a very familiar foe, the Wright Panthers. Sundance had fallen to Wright in the regular season, but made the Panthers earn their win at the tournament.

Pushing the limits in set one, Sundance took the 27-25 win. Keeping the momentum into set number two, the Bulldogs pulled ahead, behind the hot hands of Jaylin Mills and McKaya Gillespie who had 17 and 12 kills respectively, for the night, as the Bulldogs took another win from the Panthers, 25-20.

Hoping to keep their state dreams alive, the Sundance fought through game three, but were unable to come out on top as the Panthers took a 25-19 win and the momentum from the Bulldogs. It was a valiant effort by the Sundance Lady Bulldogs, who pushed the Panthers to five sets, but in the end, the Wright Lady Panthers took the overall victory, as well as the third place finish and will move on to the state tournament.

Coach Blasczyk reflected on the season, “Sadly we ended our season in a five set battle against Wright. It was our opportunity to make it to state and we finished two points behind the Panthers in the fifth set. Short of winning, this was the best way the season could have ended because the girls truly worked together, fought hard and left everything on the floor.”

The Sundance Lady Bulldogs finished their 2022 season 12-16-2 overall and 2-4 in the conference.

Stats

SHS vs. Lingle Ft. Laramie – 25-22, 23-25, 23-25, 19-25

Rachelle Miller – 11 assists 2 aces 3 digs

Jaylin Mills – 9 kills 17 assists 2 blocks 1 ace 8 digs

McKaya Gillespie – 7 kills 1 block 1 ace 12 digs

Lexie Marchant – 8 kills 2 blocks 2 digs

Zoe Skeens – 9 kills 1 block 2 aces 5 digs

Aspen Jones – 3 kills 1 block 1 ace 11 digs

Maddie Straub – 1 kill 1 assist

Mazelynn Sharp – 2 aces 3 digs

SHS vs. Lusk – 25-20, 25-7, 25-14

Rachelle Miller – 6 assists 1 ace 2 digs

Jaylin Mills – 7 kills 19 assists 1 block 3 aces 3 digs

McKaya Gillespie – 4 kills 2 aces 2 digs

Lexie Marchant – 6 kills 2 blocks

Zoe Skeens – 9 kills 1 block 4 digs

Aspen Jones – 4 kills 3 aces 5 digs

Mazelynn Sharp – 1 ace 1 dig

SHS vs. Wright – 27-25, 25-20, 19-25, 9-25, 14-16

Rachelle Miller – 14 assists 1 ace 5 digs

Jaylin Mills – 17 kills 21 assists 3 blocks 5 digs

McKaya Gillespie – 12 kills 4 aces 5 digs

Zoe Skeens – 6 kills 2 aces 7 digs

Lexie Marchant – 8 kills 3 blocks 1 dig

Aspen Jones – 2 kills 4 assists 10 digs

Maddie Straub – 1 kill 1 block

Mazelynn Sharp – 1 ace 6 digs