Bland Lady Bear volleyball pushes Dutchgirls to three sets

By Will Johnson, Sports Editor
Posted 3/4/20

OWENSVILLE — Opening their season last Tuesday falling to Steelville at home, Bland Middle School’s Lady Bear volleyball teams tried again two nights later Thursday for their first win of …

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Bland Lady Bear volleyball pushes Dutchgirls to three sets

Posted

OWENSVILLE — Opening their season last Tuesday falling to Steelville at home, Bland Middle School’s Lady Bear volleyball teams tried again two nights later Thursday for their first win of the season.

Making the short trek east on Highway 28, Brian Kaestner’s Lady Bears took on Owensville’s Dutchgirls at Owensville Elementary School with Highway 28 middle school volleyball bragging rights on the line.

Falling behind 10-1 in game one, the Lady Bears dropped the first set to Owensville, 25-13.

Behind 8-4 in game two, Tajel McDaniel stepped behind the serving line looking to give Bland momentum in their quest to force a third set in the match.

Serving the next 10 points, the Lady Bears suddenly found themselves with a 14-8 lead just past the midway point of game two.

Three McKenna Loughridge kills and two Ileana Sullinger service points eventually helped Bland force a third-and-deciding set by taking game two from the Dutchgirls 25-20.

Finding themselves down 8-4 midway through game three, the Lady Bears could not get any closer before dropping the third set and the match to Owensville 25-13, 20-25 and 15-8.

Trista Kottwitz had a pair of service aces late in game three for the Lady Bears.

This was Bland’s second three-set loss of the season after dropping their season opener against Steelville 25-16, 22-25 and 15-9.

Bland 8th grade at Owensville

Seeing their seventh-grade counterparts drop a three-set heartbreaker to Owensville, Bland’s eighth-grade Lady Bears looked to deny the host Dutchgirls a sweep of Highway 28 middle school volleyball bragging rights.

Narrowly trailing 6-5 in game one, Bland could not overcome runs of six and eight points before dropping the first set 25-8.

Down 21-20 late in game two, Jules Devine took her turn on service duty.

Serving up aces over three of the next four points, Devine now had the Lady Bears a point away from forcing a third set in the eighth-grade volleyball match.

Overcoming a late kill and Dutchgirl ace, Bland got the 25th point on a service error forcing a third set with a 25-23 victory in game two.

Appearing on their way to a three-set win, Bland let a 14-9 lead disappear before falling in game three and the match to Owensville 25-8, 23-25 and 17-15.

In game one, Bland’s lone points outside of errors came from Tegan Trainer with two service points.

Game two saw the Lady Bears take over when Taylor Tungate helped the Bears take a 12-11 lead after trailing the Dutchgirls 11-9 midway through game two.

Down 15-14 later in the set, Trainer tied the set at 15-15 with a service point before two aces gave Bland a 17-15 lead.

Trailing 21-20 late in the second set, Jules Devine tied the game with an ace before serving the next three points for a 24-21 lead.

Bland eventually held on to take game two 25-23 to force a third set.

Seeing Owensville open game three with a net violation, Mea Jones helped Bland serving the next two points for a 3-0 lead in the third-and-deciding set.

After trading a few points, Trainer served up a pair of aces helping the Lady Bears to a 6-2 lead near the midway point of the third set.

A Lydia Devine ace and service point pushed Bland’s lead to 9-3.

Seeing their lead trimmed to 9-7, Jolee Slusser got those three points back helping Bland to a 13-7 lead in the third set.

Leading 14-9 one point from victory, the Lady Bears saw the Dutchgirls score eight of the next nine points to drop game three and the match 25-8, 23-25 and 17-15.

Two nights earlier in Steelville, Bland fell to the visiting Lady Cardinals in two sets by identical scores of 25-15 and 25-15.

Over the weekend in Bourbon, Bland placed second in their pool before falling to Sullivan in the semifinals and dropping the third-place match to Plato’s Lady Eagles.

Scores from the Bourbon 8th Grade Volleyball Tournament were not available at press time.