Lady Bulldogs take on Gillette Invite

The Sundance Lady Bulldogs were playing with the big dogs this past weekend as they traveled to Gilette to participate in the Gillette Invite. Teams from the surrounding area, from all classes, were there to compete in this two-day tournament.

Day one the Lady Bulldogs faced teams from 4A, 3A and out of state. Opening play against the number two team in 3A, the Buffalo Lady Bison, Sundance stayed close but fell two games to none.

Up next for the Lady Bulldogs were Rapid City Stevens and Natrona County. Once again, the Sundance team put up a hard fight, only losing the first game to Natrona County by two points, and winning the second by six, but in the end, they were unable to gain an overall win, placing them in the bronze bracket for day two of the competition.

The opening round of the bronze bracket put the Lady Bulldogs against a familiar foe, the Moorcroft Wolves. Trading wins in the first two games, it was down to the wire in the third where the Lady Bulldogs took the overall victory, moving them on to round two where they would face the Sheridan Lady Broncs.

This was another intense round for the Lady Bulldogs, who won the first game by two points, and lost the second by one. Heading into the tie-breaking set, the Bulldogs hung close, but were unable to overcome the Broncs and lost 11-15, sending the Sundance team into the third-place game.

Going up against Burns for third place, Sundance took the lead and never looked back, beating the Burns Broncs, 25-18 and 25-11, taking third place in the bronze bracket of the Gillette Invite.

“We held our own against the bigger schools. There were definitely times the girls were slightly overwhelmed by the speed of play but they adjusted quickly and rose to the occasion. They were able to keep focused and remain competitive with the bigger schools,” coach Chelsey Blasczyk stated. 

The Lady Bulldogs will compete again on Friday and Saturday this week at the Big Horn Invite.

Gillette Invite Friday:

SHS vs. Buffalo 16-25, 23-25

SHS vs. Rapid City Stevens 19-25, 18-25

SHS vs. Natrona County (4A) 25-23, 19-25, 9-15

Gillette Invite Saturday (Bronze Bracket):

SHS vs. Moorcroft 25-17, 20-25, 15-11

SHS vs. Sheridan 25-23, 26-27, 11-15

SHS vs. Burns (#2) 25-18, 25-11 3rd place

Stats:

Lexie Marchant 6 aces, 35 kills, 47 digs, 12 blocks

Aspen Jones 3 aces, 12 kills, 21 digs

Jaylin Mills 8 aces, 48 kills, 57 digs, 36 assists, 5 blocks

Blakely Gill 6 aces, 2 kills, 48 digs

Hailey Karol 4 aces, 17 kills, 7 digs, 5 blocks

Karly Marchant 26 digs

Annika Haugen 2 aces, 9 kills, 31 digs, 64 assists, 1 block