Lady Bulldogs seal 2nd seed at district
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ST. IGNATIUS — The Lady Bulldogs started off their match against the Falcons playing like they had nothing to lose and found themselves up two games against a tough, undefeated conference competitor.
The last meeting in Florence wasn’t pretty. Head coach Kendal Anderson said they lost their second set in their first match in less than 10 minutes.
But the Lady Bulldogs looked strong, offensively and defensively, Thursday night at home as they took the first two sets of their match 21-25 and 17-25.
Anderson said after the adrenaline of senior night wore off, she thinks her team became nervous after finding themselves up two games.
The Falcons powered back, easily winning the third set, 11-25, and taking advantage as the Lady Bulldogs started to unravel, forcing errors.
The fourth set was a battle as the Lady Bulldogs deployed scrambling defense to keep neck and neck with the Falcons the whole match.
But behind the hitting of Florence’s Casey Mann, who had 21 kills, the Falcons ended up winning, 21-25, 17-25, 25-11, 28-26, 15-11.
“They should hold their heads high,” Anderson said of her team. “Their defense was the best I’ve seen all season.”
Sydney Allard led the team with 27 of 112 team digs, and Sara Nerby had five blocks and 20 kills.
The Lady Bulldogs finished up their regular season 4-4 in league and 9-9 overall. They head into district tournament play seeded second.
“We just need to keep our defense rolling,” Anderson said. “We need to work on hitting through blocks.”
The loss to Florence marks the last home match for eight seniors on the team.
Anderson said the seniors on her team were freshman when she first started coaching and it has been a pleasure to watch them grow.
“They make coaching fun,” Anderson said. “They are silly, fun and have positive attitudes. It’s going to be hard to find a group as big and with as much dedication.”
On Oct. 18, the Bulldogs defeated the Maidens, 25-13, 25-13, 25-20. Jennifer Larsson had eight kills and Stephanie Lewandowski contributed 13 digs. Alaina Madsen had six kills and two blocks to lead the Maidens.
Florence def. St. Ignatius, 21-25, 17-25, 25-11, 28-26, 15-11.
Kills - Florence 54 (Casey Mann 21), St. Ignatius 39 (Sara Nerby 20). Blocks - Florence 15 (Melody Maki 5), St. Ignatius 11 (Nerby 5). Digs - Florence 140 (Taylor Maricelli 49), St. Ignatius 112 (Sydney Allard 27). Assists - Florence 54 (Makenzie Bauck 47), St. Ignatius 36 (Loren Erickson 18). Aces - Florence 9 (Maki 3), St. Ignatius 13 (Ashley Courville 4).
St. Ignatius def. Ronan, 25-13, 25-13, 25-20.
Kills - St. Ignatius 29 (Larsson 8), Ronan 15 (Alaina Madsen 6). Blocks - St. Ignatius 4 (Ashley Courville 2), Ronan 3 (Madsen 2). Digs - St. Ignatius 40 (Lewandowski 13), Ronan 29 (Ashley Lynch 8). Assists - St. Ignatius 24 (Loren Erickson 13), Ronan 12 (Bethany Colman 6). Aces - St. Ignatius 7 (Sydney Allard 3), Ronan 12 (Lynch 6).
