Any good team knows that just because you beat an opponent once, doesn’t mean you can write them off the second time around.  The Lady Dragon volleyball team was reminded of this as they took on the West Side Pirates and the Grace Grizzlies.  While they had beaten them at home before, their second match up proved to be even more challenging.

In their opening game against the Pirates on Wednesday, October 9, Malad found that West Side was ready to battle it out across the net.  The two teams played neck and neck on the court, trading leaders on the board with nearly every play.  The Lady Dragons tied the score at 11 points each off a hit that Pirates passed into the net and were never able to recover from.

Even after Malad took the lead, West Side hardly made it easy to build any distance between them on the scoreboard until the game came down to the final points.  The Lady Dragons eventually claimed the win of game one, 25-17.

With one game behind them and most of the kinks worked out the Lady Dragons led out from the onset of game two. The Pirates hit their first attack of the game into the net followed by an ace from Riglee Peterson with a big kill from Brinley Clark on the play just after to help Malad get up 3-0 in no time.  It seemed that for every four of five points the Lady Dragons earned, the Pirates could sneak in one.  As Malad topped out the game at 25, West Side sat at 15.

Finally into their groove, the Lady Dragons continued to dominate as they played through the third and final game.  Throughout the night, outside hitter Brynnlee Jones led with 14 kills.  Also playing on the back row defense, Jones added 17 digs.  Peterson, libero for the Lady Dragons, also had 17 digs with Izzy Haycock adding 12.  Leading the defense at the net was middle blocker Liv Nelson with 7 blocks, assisted by Paityn Ward with 3.  The team was very successful from the service line with multiple players serving aces, including Haycock, Jones, Peterson and Brylee Oglesbee.

Following their win against the Pirates, the Lady Dragons traveled to Grace to take on the Grizzlies in their final home game of the season on Thursday, October 10.

Clark and Nelson set the stage for the game as they earned Malad’s first point with a strong double block.  Haycock sent over a serve that Grace couldn’t handle, passing an easy ball back over the net.  Peterson set up the play with a perfect pass to setter Haycock who pushed the ball out to Clark on the outside.  Clark finished the play with speed and power as she put the kill down on the Grizzly court.

The Lady Dragons continued to dictate the points on the court, getting up 7-1 before Grace began to respond in kind.  Recovering after Anistyn Tovey sent a killer ace across the net, the Grizzlies began inching their way back up on the scoreboard.  Eventually the two teams were tied at 18 and it was really anyone’s game to claim.

Coming down to the wire, Nelson finally put over the hit that snagged the lead for Malad for the last time.  The MHS team made a scrappy recovery as they passed up the Grace hit.  Haycock dove for the dig, requiring Ward to step up and set the ball on the second touch.  Pushing it mid-net, Nelson made the approach for the kill.  With the ball at the very limit of her reach, she tipped the ball over the block.  The Grizzlies attempted to pass it up, but sent it into the net where they never recovered it.

Keeping calm and playing their game, Malad let Grace make the errors to put the final points and the first game in their favor, 25-23.

Game two came on in near deja vu fashion, the Lady Dragons taking a commanding lead as the game began with the Grizzlies whittling it away.  Reducing the gap to just a single point, 13-12, Malad stepped up their game to a whole new level.  While tacking on 12 points to their own score, their stellar defense only allowed an additional two points for the Grace team.  Their surge on the scoreboard was due in large part by the top notch blocking by the front line, the MHS team stacking back to back blocks to the Grace attacks.  

In addition to their tough defense, the front line played a smart, strategic hitting game that kept the Grizzlies guessing what they would bring next.  In one instance, Jones went up for the hit, getting blocked herself.  With the set coming her way a second time, the hitter shifted her swing so that after hitting the Grace block, the ball would bounce out of bounds.  After a number of strong middle hits, Nelson pulled power to tip the ball just over the block and short of the back line.  This sort of clever play clinched the second game for the Lady Dragons, 25-24.

As the third game played out, Malad completely dominated the play on the court and the scoreboard.  Up 15-1, Grace finally put up a few points of their own, but it never was enough to counter the MHS attack.  Tallying up 25 points to the Grizzlies 11, the Lady Dragons won the match to extend their current streak to 15 wins.  

Commenting on the games, Head Coach Camie Tripp shared, “I’m so glad to have those games done and over with!  Both teams have improved since we last played them, especially Grace- they have improved a ton.  We are super proud of how they came together to pull out the win at Grace after getting down.  It was so good to be pushed
a bit.”  

The Lady Dragons enter their final week of the regular season, playing the Cardinals in Soda Springs on Wednesday, October 16 before hosting the Declo Hornets in their final home match of the season on Thursday, October 17.

Volleyball Results 

MHS @ West Side

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

25-17 I 25-15 I 25-16

PLAYER Kills Digs Aces Blocks Serve/Receive Accuracy

Izzy Haycock 3 12 2 2 0

Anistyn Tovey 0 8 0 0 2.1/3

Paityn Ward 0 6 0 3 2.0/3

Brynnlee Jones 14 17 2 2 1.8/3

Brinley Clark 11 4 0 2 0

Olivia Nelson 4 7 0 7 0

Mady Vanbebber 6 6 0 1 0

Brylee Oglesbee 0 7 2 0 1.8/3

Riglee Peterson 0 17 2 0 2.0/3

Quincee Hammer 0 0 0 0 0

MHS @ Grace

Thursday, October 10, 2024

25-23 I 25-14 I 25-11

PLAYER Kills Digs Aces Blocks Serve/Receive Accuracy

Izzy Haycock 2 16 5 2 0

Anistyn Tovey 0 9 1 0 1.7/3

Paityn Ward 3 4 0 2 1.4/3

Brynnlee Jones 8 18 0 0 2.5/3

Brinley Clark 10 1 0 3 0

Olivia Nelson 9 5 0 7 0

Mady Vanbebber 4 3 0 1 2.3/3

Brylee Oglesbee 0 7 2 0 2.2/3

Riglee Peterson 0 36 0 0 2.2/3

Quincee Hammer 0 0 0 0 0