Never-say-die Lady Bulldogs take third at State

The Lovell High School volleyball squad brought home some hardware by placing third at the Class 2A State Volleyball Tournament Thursday-Saturday in Casper.“I’m pleased with third,” coach Kisha McArthur said. “They could have come home with nothing, but they fought hard and came home with the third-place trophy.”The Lady Bulldogs opened up State facing the Pine Bluffs Lady Hornets Thursday afternoon.Lovell won a close game one 25-23 and game two 26-24 to take a two-game lead early in the match.“We came out kind of flat,” McArthur said. “They were a little nervous; they weren’t communicating and moving their feet.”After losing game three 25-17 Lovell bounced back to defeat the Lady Hornets 26-24 to win game four and the match.“The difference maker was that, in the three games we won, we were 100 percent serving,” McArthur said.Stats from the Pine Bluffs match were: Trysa Flood, 11 kills, 100 percent serving, 32 digs; Madyson Jones, eight kills, two blocks, five digs; Samantha Newman, three kills, two assists, 80 percent serving, two aces, 1.5 blocks, six digs; Kendra Price, four kills, 100 percent serving, one ace, three blocks, four digs; Shelby Wardell, three kills, 34 assists, 100 percent serving, 1.5 blocks, 18 digs; Mandi Jo Baxendale, 13 kills, 100 percent serving, one block, 22 digs; Kendre Kidgell, 100 percent serving, 2.14 serve/receive average, four digs; Mikkel McIntosh, 95 percent serving, three aces, 2.04 serve/receive average, four digs; Andrea Monterde, one dig.SundanceWith the win, the Lady Bulldogs met Sundance in a battle of the Lady Bulldogs for a spot in the championship game.Lovell fought hard in the first game but fell 27-25.[caption id="attachment_11828" align="alignright" width="300"] The Lovell High School volleyball squad poses with their third-place trophy in front of an adoring crowd at the State Volleyball Tournament Saturday in Casper. Members of the team are (back row, l-r) coach Kisha McArthur, Samantha Newman, Shelby Wardell, Alea Mayes, Kendra Price, Trysa Flood, Mallory Smith, Mandi Jo Baxendale, Madison Bryson, Madyson Jones, coach Kristen Owens, coach Tiffany Anderson, (front row) manager Grace Edwards, manager Karlee Burton, Andrea Monterde, Mikkel McIntosh and Kendre Kidgell.
Patti Carpenter photo[/caption]“In the first game, we were up 24-21. We just started playing conservative, not playing to win the game and just giving the ball back instead of attacking,” McArthur said.Lovell’s Lady Bulldogs tried to recover from the tough loss in the first game but fell to Sundance 25-18 and 25-17 to lose the match.“If we would’ve won that first game, I think it would’ve changed what happened in the next two games,” McArthur said.Stats from the Sundance match were: Trysa Flood, six kills, 86 percent serving, 13 digs; Madyson Jones, four kills, two blocks, one dig; Samantha Newman, one kill, one assist, 80 percent serving, one ace, two blocks, two digs; Kendra Price, six kills, 75 percent serving, 1.5 blocks, five digs; Shelby Wardell, three kills, 16 assists, 100 percent serving, two aces, .5 blocks, seven digs; Mandi Jo Baxendale, three kills, 89 percent serving, one block, 13 digs; Kendre Kidgell, 100 percent serving, 1.8 serve/receive average; Mikkel McIntosh, 100 percent serving, 1.83 serve/receive average, 16 digs; Andrea Monterde, 100 percent serving.GreybullAfter the tough loss to Sundance, the Lady Bulldogs still had a chance for third place, but first they had to go through Greybull Saturday morning, and Greybull was feeling pretty pumped up after knocking out Shoshoni in three games in their previous match.Greybull came out with a vengeance and Lovell fell to the Lady Buffs in the first game, 25-10, but that didn’t stop the Lady Bulldogs as they came back to win game two 25-18.“In the second game, they came out with more heart and started playing better,” McArthur said.Greybull came back by winning a close game three, 25-23, but the do-or-die Lady Bulldogs bounced back strong to win game four 25-15 and force a game five.In the deciding game, Lovell pulled away from the Lady Buffs to win 15-12 and stay alive in the tournament.“I feel they didn’t play their best, but they came back and fought hard for the win and to advance into the third- and fourth-place match,” McArthur said.Stats from the Greybull match were: Trysa Flood, 10 kills, 93 percent serving, two aces, one block, 19 digs; Madyson Jones, eight kills, 2.5 blocks, three digs; Samantha Newman, seven kills, five assists, 86 percent serving, one ace, two blocks, five digs; Kendra Price, four kills, 93 percent serving, one ace, 3.5 blocks, six digs; Mallory Smith, one kill, 100 percent serving, three digs; Shelby Wardell, 36 assists, 95 percent serving, one ace, two blocks, 23 digs; Mandi Jo Baxendale, 11 kills, 93 percent serving, two aces, 1.5 blocks, 26 digs; Kendre Kidgell, 100 percent serving, one ace, 3 serve/receive average, 10 digs; Mikkel McIntosh, 100 percent serving, 2.16 serve/receive average, 47 digs.Big PineyIn the third- and fourth-place match, Lovell showed signs of fatigue after a tough five-game match with Greybull as Big Piney won the first two games 25-13, 25-14 to jump out to a two-game lead early in the match and then led 13-7 in the third set.But the Lady Bulldogs were not done as they had a little bit of energy left in them to make a 12-point turnaround to come back and win 25-19 and stay alive in the match.“They were all being aggressive and hitting the ball in that turnaround, which set the tone for the rest of the match,” McArthur said.With the momentum that was built in game three, Lovell took care of Big Piney 25-15 in game four and 15-11 in game five to win the match and take third at State.Stats from the Big Piney match were: Trysa Flood, 11 kills, 100 percent serving, one ace, 20 digs; Madyson Jones, eight kills, 1.5 blocks, four digs, one assist; Samantha Newman, three kills, one ace, 1.5 blocks, four digs, six assists; Kendra Price, eight kills, 100 percent serving, two aces, 5.5 blocks, five digs; Mallory Smith, one kill, one block, two digs; Shelby Wardell, 29 assists, 100 percent serving, two blocks, 22 digs; Mandi Jo Baxendale, 11 kills, one assist, 90 percent serving, 3.5 blocks, 17 digs; Madison Bryson, one kill, two digs; Kendre Kidgell, 100 percent serving, 1.78 serve/receive average, five digs; Mikkel McIntosh, 88 percent serving, 2.09 serve/receive average, 39 digs; Alea Mayes, 100 percent serving; Andrea Monterde, one dig.The Big Piney match was the last contest for seniors Flood, Jones, Newman, Price, Smith and Wardell. With a 6-1 record in the postseason, the Lady Bulldogs finished the season 26-7.“I feel the girls exceeded their expectations,” McArthur said. “I always thought they could do well and I told them continually that they were a good team and they could go as far as they wanted to go. I’m glad that I got to work with this group of girls and I’m looking foreward to a successful season next year.”

By Sam Smith