Lady Bulldogs silenced by Eureka
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
1 of 3 free articles.
MISSION — A failure of communication for the Lady Bulldogs led to a five-set District 7-B loss to the Eureka Lady Lions at home Saturday night.
Trying to sew up the second seed for the upcoming district tournament and trying to win their second game in a row since losing to the conference-leading Bigfork Vals, the Lady Bulldogs were up two games on the Lady Lions after winning 25-23, 26-24, but then they stopped talking to one another and allowed the Lady Lions to sneak out of the Doghouse with three straight victories (25-22, 25-16, 15-13).
“Halfway through the third game, we stopped communicating. They just stopped talking to each other. We had a communication breakdown,” Mission coach Kendal Anderson said.
After losing game three, there was no panic in the Lady Bulldogs and they figured they would get game four, but once Eureka stole game four everything changed.
“All of sudden we started playing like we were afraid to make a mistake. We started over thinking things. We got in our own heads a bit,” Anderson said.
She said, while the Lady Bulldogs felt the pressure, as always the Lady Lions remained calm for a 15-13 match-clinching win.
The usual potent Lady Bulldog offense wasn’t on display against Eureka. They only finished with 24 kills in five games. Adessa Durglo led the way with 10. Ashley Courville followed with seven. Courville had a team-high six aces. Loren Erickson had a team-high 19 assists and 16 digs.
The multi-faceted, high-powered offense was on display in a four-set win in Arlee Thursday. The Lady Bulldogs had 46 kills with three players finishing in double digits in a 22-25, 25-18, 25-10, 25-7 victory to spoil the Scarlets’ homecoming.
Durglo led the Mission attack with 14 kills. She also had three aces. Middle hitter Jenn Larsson had 12 kills and a team-high two blocks. Courville had 11 kills, six digs and a team-high five aces. The Lady Bulldogs had 18 aces in the match. Mission sophomore Stephanie Lewandowski finished with four.
Erickson and Sydney Allard shored up the back row. Erickson had nine of the team’s 52 digs and Allard followed with eight. Erickson also dished out 33 assists.
The Lady Bulldogs (10-3, 4-3) travel to Plains Thursday and finish the week hosting Troy Saturday.
Summary
Bigfork def. Mission
25-22, 25-23, 20-25, 25-19
Kills - Bigfork 30 (Mallery Knoll 13), Mission 41 (Jenn Larsson 10). Blocks - Bigfork 9 (Mel Vandeveer 6), Mission 2 (Larsson 1, Adessa Durglo 1). Digs - Bigfork 88 (Knoll 20), Mission 89 (Mackenzie Trudeau 19). Assists - Bigfork 30 (Hannah Barrett 15), Mission 31 (Loren Erickson 25). Aces - Bigfork 10 (Knoll 3), Mission 11 (Ashley Courville 4).
Mission def. Arlee
22-25, 25-18, 25-10, 25-7
Kills - Mission 46 (Adessa Durglo 14), Arlee 19 (Courtney Dix 5, Maria Pablo 5). Blocks - Mission 2 (Jenn Larsson 2), Arlee 7 (Dix 3). Digs - Mission 52 (Loren Erickson 9), Arlee 68 (Becca Nelson 32). Assists - Mission 35 (Loren Erickson), Arlee 12 (Dix 12). Aces - Mission 18 (Ashley Courville 5), Arlee 10 (Dix 5).
Eureka def. Mission
23-25, 24-26, 25-22, 25-16, 15-13
Kills - Eureka 45 (Selene Elster 15), Mission 24 (Adessa Durglo 10). Blocks - Eureka 7 (three with 2), Mission 6 (Durglo 3, Jen Larsson 3). Digs - Eureka 84 (Cassidy Morgan 18), Mission 76 (Loren Erickson 16). Assists - Eureka 36 (Alyssa White 34), Mission 20 (Erickson 19). Aces - Eureka 19 (Tasha Mikita 6), Mission 18 (Ashley Courville 6).
