Lady Bulldogs continue slide with losses

The Lovell Lady Bulldog volleyball team is attempting to pull out of a late-season tailspin, and despite their best efforts, a monthlong losing streak continued last week in matches at home and in Worland.

The Lovell netters have now lost six straight matches following a 3-1 win over Greybull on September 19.

Thursday night at home, the Lady Bulldogs came out on fire on senior night and led conference foe Thermopolis two sets to nothing, only to drop the final three sets and lose the match 3-2. Friday in Worland, the Lady Bulldogs fell to the Warriors 3-0, dropping the Lovell season record to 12-15-1, 1-5 in the 3A West Conference.

Backed by a raucous student section, the Lady Bulldogs powered past Thermopolis 25-16 in the first set, then won the second set 25-18. Trailing early in the second set, the Lady Bulldogs tied the score 13-13 and 14-14, then built a 21-16 lead. After Thermop scored two to make it 21-18, Lovell scored the final four points to win by seven.

The Lady Bulldogs dug themselves a hole in set number three but fought back to trail by just one point, 9-8, but after staying close at 12-10, the Lovell netters saw the Lady Bobcats reel off five straight points to lead 17-10. Thermopolis pulled away to win the set 25-15.

Game four wasn’t any better. Lovell never led in the set, and Thermop scored four straight points midway through the set to lead 11-3. Trailing 23-11, the Lady Bulldogs battled back to outscore Thermop 7-1 to cut the margin to six, but the visitors from Hot Springs County closed out the match 25-18.

The Lady Bulldogs gave it their all in the fifth and deciding set as they fought tooth and nail to somehow come up with a win. The set was tied 5-5, 6-6, 7-7, 8-8 and 9-9. After Thermop scored two straight points to lead 11-9, Lovell scored four straight points to lead 13-11, the 13th point coming on a Libby Mickelson slam, and appeared to have all of the momentum.

It was not to be, however, as a long serve out of bounds launched a 4-0 rally that propelled Thermop to a 15-13 win, taking the match 3-2.

“We started out strong and clicking all the way around,” coach Stormy Jameson said. “We came out aggressive and swinging hard and finding the court.

“In the third set, we had some miscues and unforced errors that got in our heads. The wheels started falling off, and we weren’t able to flip the switch. Thermopolis played hard. Their defense started picking up our attacks, and they found the holes on our side of the court.”

Statistics the Thermopolis match:

Libby Mickelson - 10 kills, 4 aces, 9 digs and 1 block;

Raegan May - 6 kills, 3 aces, 8 digs, 1 block;

Summer Teter - 4 kills, 1 ace, 13 digs, 2 blocks;

Breeah Jones - 3 kills, 2 assists, 4 digs;

Chaylee Betancourt - 5 kills, 4 digs, 1 block;

Krysta McIntosh - 18 assists, 10 digs;
Kira Collins - 9 assists, 1 ace, 8 digs;

Jenna Hessenthaler - 13 digs;

Kennadee Owens - 10 kills, 1 block.

Worland loss

Friday in Worland, the Lady Bulldogs took their fifth conference loss 25-18, 25-13, 25-11.

“I thought we were focused and prepared going into the Worland match, and at the beginning on the first set, our starting setter, Krysta McIntosh, went down with a knee injury,” Jameson said. “That threw off our normal rotation and got us out of sync, and we were never able to get comfortable and in a rhythm.

“Our passers struggled in serve receive, and we weren’t able to get into our offensive attacks. We gave them too many free ball opportunities that they took advantage of, and we didn’t stop them.”

Statistics from Worland:

Libby Mickelson - 5 kills, 7 digs;

Raegan May - 4 kills, 2 aces, 6 digs;

Summer Teter - 1 kill, 2 assists, 12 digs;

Kira Collins - 12 assists, 7 digs;

Jenna Hessenthaler - 1 ace, 7 digs;

Kennadee Owens - 7 kills;

Kindle Collins - 6 digs;

Celeste Lindsay - 3 kills.

Final weekend

The Lady Bulldogs will close out the regular season Friday with a match in Powell. Games are set for 4, 5 and 6 p.m.

The Class 3A West Regional Tournament follows on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 27-28, in Lander.

“Injuries are unfortunate, and going into the final week of the regular season, it is not ideal to still be making changes, but we are exploring some options that I believe will put us in the hunt heading into Regionals in a couple of weeks,” Jameson said.