Lady Bulldogs go undefeated at own tourney
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ST. IGNATIUS — Sometimes the best laid schemes of mice and men go awry – luckily for the Lady Bulldogs they had a back-up plan.
After practicing a 6-2 offense all week leading up to their season-opening tournament, the Lady Bulldogs found out just minutes before the tournament that their second setter was sick with food poisoning and couldn’t play. Mission coach Kendal Anderson quickly adjusted her offense to a 5-1 and shifted all of the setting responsibilities to sophomore Loren Erickson, who was up to the challenge.
Playing in her first varsity matches, Erickson dished out 40 assists at Mission Saturday as the Lady Bulldogs swept through the competition, going 10-0 at the five-team, round robin tournament and outscoring their opponents 202-to-108.
“She really stepped up,” Anderson said of Erickson. “She stepped up big time. She worked a ton in the offseason and it really showed.”
Most of Erickson passes were to senior Adessa Durglo and junior Ashley Courville, who led the lethal Lady Bulldog offense, which finished with 73 kills.
Durglo led the Lady Bulldogs with 24 kills, including the game-winner in a 22-20 victory against Florence. Durglo also led the Lady Bulldogs with five of their eight blocks.
With the emergence of Erickson and other setters, Courville was able to move from setter – a position she was forced to play the past season – and move to the hitter position. A role she flourished in Saturday. Courville, who had been up all night battling food sickness, finished with 23 kills. She also led the team with 17 of their 61 digs.
The Lady Bulldogs’ high-powered offense didn’t only rely on the kill for points, they finished with 35 aces and only averaged about one miss serve a game. Sierra Scott led Mission with 13 aces.
The Lady Bulldogs were only tested in two games at the tourney. They beat Valley Christian 20-18 in the second game of their first match and they defeated Florence 22-20 in the third set. All their other victories were by at least seven points.
“I’m really proud of how they played. They were tired and they had to overcome some adversity, but they still played really well,” Anderson said.
The Lady Bulldogs will travel to Eureka Saturday to face the Lady Lions.
Summary
Mission def. Valley Christian; 20-18, 20-6,
Mission def. Darby; 20-8, 20-12
Mission def. Florence 20-12, 22-20
Mission def. Mission JV 20-3, 20-4
Mission def. Plains 20-13, 20-12
