Coming off of a big win against Richardton-Taylor, the Bulldogs traveled to a rainy Killdeer to face the Cowboys on September 15. The Bulldogs lost 1-3, with very close set scores: 22-25, 28-26, 21-25, 21-25. The girls played decent defense, with Skylar Ruggles having 36 digs, and Cassidy Walby with 26 of the total 86 digs. Bulldog blocking was down some from previous games, with the team only having 7 blocks. Ellie Stafford put up 4 of the 7 blocks.
Serving was also an area where the Bulldogs struggled, with 14 errors and 8 aces. Lindsey Dix had 4 of the 8 aces for the team. Hitting also saw twice as many errors and less kills than the Richardton-Taylor game. Killdeer is a tall team with some impressive blocking, but the hitting percentage for the squad was still positive, and that is a definite improvement over early this season. Walby led the squad in kills, with 9, Stafford posted 7 kills, and Kaylee Septon with 4. Josie Smyle led setting in the match with 11 assists.
On Saturday, the bulldogs loaded the bus again to travel to Bison, SD, to take on the Cardinals. The Bulldogs lost in three, with scores of 23-25, 18-25, 15-25. Bulldog blocking was back on track, with 7 of the 12 blocks going to Stafford to go with her squad leading 8 kills. Serving errors were reduced, as well as hitting errors. The Bulldogs struggled to kill the ball however, and made several unforced errors, which ultimately led to the Cardinal victory.
The volleyball team gets 3 straight days of practice this week, before Parent’s night against Dickinson High’s JV squad on Thursday. The JV squads earn a weekend of rest while the varsity travels to Belle Fouche for a tournament on Saturday, before taking on New England on Tuesday, September 27 during Homecoming week. (By Jennifer Holecek, Head Volleyball Coach)
