Weary Lady Bulldogs tripped up by Troy
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MISSION — The Lady Bulldogs’ hectic schedule seemed to catch up with them in a four-set loss to Troy at home Saturday.
Playing their ninth match in 18 days, the Lady Bulldogs looked tired and out-of-sync in a 20-25, 26-24, 25-17, 25-15 loss to the Lady Trojans, a team they had swept in Troy in early September.
“Honestly, I think a big part of it was fatigue. The girls have been playing three days a week for the past three weeks,” Mission coach Kendal Anderson said. “We played half of our season in the last three weeks. They’re exhausted. They’re getting one day off a week.”
After playing Thompson Falls at home Tuesday, the Lady Bulldogs will have time to rest and get refocused before the District 7-B tournament in Thompson Falls Oct. 29-30. Anderson is hoping that the week and a half break is just what her team needs.
“Hopefully, after a few days off they’ll come back fresh and really wanting to play again,” Anderson said.
The Lady Bulldogs entered the match with the Lady Trojans on a six-game win streak after sweeping Ronan 25-18, 26-24, 25-22 Tuesday and the Trotters 25-12, 25-23, 25-19 in Plains Thursday. They seemed to carry the momentum of their two straight-set wins in the first game with a 25-20 win, but then they stopped hitting the ball and the Trojans’ tips started finding the holes.
The Lady Bulldogs had a chance to really get a stranglehold on the match in the second game. Leading most of the way, a block by Jenn Larsson gave the Lady Bulldogs a 25-24 lead, but the Lady Trojans scored three straight points, including the game winner on a Mission hitting error. The Lady Trojans seemed to feed off the momentum of the win and got stronger as the match progressed.
“I think 90 percent of volleyball is momentum and we never could get the momentum back on our side. Whenever we got down we couldn’t get the lead to get the momentum back,” Anderson said.
The Lady Bulldogs were trying out a new 6-2 offense and never could get comfortable with it. They finished with 33 kills with Adessa Durglo leading the way with 11. Sierra Scott added eight and Ashley Courville knocked down five.
The Lady Trojans finished with 50 kills, with most of them coming on perfectly placed tips.
“We just weren’t reading. Our defense wasn’t reading their offense,” Anderson said.
The Lady Bulldogs did have eight blocks in the match. Durglo led with six and Larsson added two.
The Lady Bulldogs finished with 64 digs. Libero Mackenzie Trudeau led the way with 18. Loren Erickson, who led the team with 20 assists, had nine digs.
With the loss the Lady Bulldogs drop to 12-3 overall and 5-4 in conference. They should be the third seed at the district tournament.
Summary
Mission def. Ronan
25-18, 26-24, 25-22
Kills - Ronan 19 (Tailyr Irvine 7), Mission 37 (Loren Erickson 7, Adessa Durglo 7). Blocks - Ronan 1 (Irvine 0.5, Taylor Lynch 0.5), Mission 4 (Jenn Larsson 2, Durglo 2). Digs - Ronan 52 (Marissa McCray 16), Mission 60 (Mackenzie Trudeau 19). Assists - Ronan 14 (Alice Van Gunten 7, Lynch 7), Mission 28 (Erickson 17). Aces - Ronan 5 (McCray 2), Mission 6 (Durglo 3).
Mission def. Plains
25-12, 25-23, 25-19.
Kills - Mission 37 (Sierra Scott 10), Plains 16 (Kayla Revier 5). Blocks - Mission 2 (Adessa Durglo 1, Jenn Larsson 1), Plains 3 (Revier 2). Digs - Mission 40 (Mackenzie Trudeau 9), Plains 37 (Kelsey Beagley 18). Assists - Mission 32 (Loren Erickson 18), Plains 12 (Hannah Powell 7). Aces - Mission 8 (Erickson 2, Trudeau 2, Durglo 2), Plains 10 (Ashley Thompson 6).
Troy def. Mission
20-25, 26-24, 25-17, 25-15.
Kills - Troy 50 (Jordan Williams 12), Mission 33 (Adessa Durglo 11). Blocks - Troy 5 (Michaela Curry 4), Mission 8 (Durglo 6). Digs - Troy 55 (Holli Higgins 14), Mission 64 (Mackenzie Trudeau 18). Assists - Troy 35 (Alyssa Olds 31), Mission 31 (Loren Erickson 20). Aces - Troy 9 (Kimmy Klin 3), Mission 5 (Ashley Courville 2).
