Lady Bulldog netters dominate early season tournament

The Lovell High School volleyball team put up an impressive showing at the North Big Horn County Volleyball Tournament held at Lovell High School Aug, 26-27. The Lady Bulldogs showed that they could be early-season contenders as they won every match during the two-day tournament.“I was really happy with the way they played,” coach Kisha McArthur said. “They played as a team and they encouraged each other. They were excited when their teammates did something good.[caption id="attachment_11601" align="alignright" width="199"] Lovell High School senior Samantha Newman bumps the ball to a setter during a volleyball match at the North Big Horn County Tournament Saturday in Lovell as junior Kendre Kidgell looks on.
David Peck photo[/caption]“I’ve been really stressing to the girls that we need to play our game and that’s what they did. Even when they got down, they didn’t quit and they kept fighting.”The Lady Bulldogs opened up the tournament strong by defeating Ten Sleep 25-20 and 25-13 Friday afternoon.Next, Lovell defeated Cody 25-15 in game one, dropped game two 25-23 but came back to win game three over the Fillies 15-9 to win the match.“In the Cody game, our serving was 97 percent, and in the rest of the tournament our serving was consistent,” McArthur said.The Lady Bulldog netters took care of the next two matches Friday evening by defeating Tongue River 25-22, 25-16 and Riverside 25-23, 25-20 to finish the day 4-0.“You can’t underestimate them,” McArthur said when asked about the Riverside game. “We were down most of the first game, but we never gave up and finished the game with a win. In the second game we led most of the game.”Lovell opened up bracket play of the tournament Saturday by defeating Rocky 25-13, 25-18 to advance into a semifinal match with Wind River.“I was kind of nervous,” McArthur said when asked about the Rocky game. “Again, I told them to go play their game. They didn’t take it as a rivalry; they came out and were aggressive.”The Lady Bulldogs defeated Wind River in two games 25-20, 25-20 to advance to the championship game against Cody.“I was nervous with the Wind River game,” McArthur said. “I didn’t know how my girls would come out, but I was so proud of them because they did what I asked them to do. They want to get better so they do the things that we ask to be successful.”Lovell defeated the Fillies in two close games 25-23, 25-22 to win the tournament.“Those two games were exciting,” McArthur said. “It was a fun match to be a part of. I know the girls enjoyed it because it wasn’t easy and they had to work for it.”Stats from the tournament include: Mandi Jo Baxendale, 44 kills, 92 percent serving, 2.5 blocks, 20 digs, and eight aces; Kendre Kidgell, 93 percent serving and 20 digs; Kendra Price, 33 kills, 91 percent serving, five blocks, 11 digs and 10 aces; Samantha Newman, 16 kills, 86 percent serving, 4.5 blocks, 41 digs and two aces; Madyson Jones, 30 kills, two blocks and seven digs; Mikkel McIntosh, 107 digs, 95 percent serving and one ace; Shelby Wardell, 39 digs, 2.5 blocks, 127 assists, 97 percent serving and six aces; Trysa Flood, 34 kills, one block, 66 digs, 97 percent serving and one ace and Mallory Smith, nine digs, 82 percent serving and one ace.The Lady Bulldogs will face Hardin, Mont. at 1:30 p.m. Friday in the Wyoming-Montana Duals in Cody and Billings Central at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Lovell will face Laurel at 10 a.m. and Miles City at 1 p.m.Junior VarsityThe Lady Bulldog JVs opened up the JV portion of the tournament Friday by defeating Riverside 25-12, 25-13 and Wind River, also in two games, in Cowley.Saturday, Lovell defeated Greybull’s number two team 25-18, 25-10, fell to Cody in two games and defeated Tongue River 25-21, 25-20 to finish the tournament with a 4-1 record.The JV team is coached by Tiffany Anderson and will travel to the Lander JV Tournament Saturday.FreshmenThe Lovell freshman volleyball team fell to Wind River 25-23, 23-25, 15-13 and to Cody 25-8, 25-12 in the JV portion of the North Big Horn County Tournament Friday in Cowley.Saturday, the Lady Bulldogs participated in a freshman tournament in Powell and fell to Cody 25-17, 25-18, split with Pinedale 25-21, 11-25, fell to Worland 25-16, 25-14 and fell to Thermop 25-23, 19-25, 27-25.“I’m proud of how far they’ve come,” coach Kristin Owens said. “There were quite a few good teams. We hung with them but came up short. It was definitely good experience for them and that will help us move forward inour season.”

By Sam Smith