The Sundance Lady Bulldogs were playing with the big dogs this past week, competing against Spearfish, Newcastle and conference rival, Big Horn. Opening play on Thursday night in Spearfish, the Sundance team displayed their resilience and determination, pushing the Spartans to five sets, but ultimately falling short.
“It took us several sets to warm up,” coach Chelsey Blasczyk stated, “We struggled to serve-receive, which made it hard to get many solid swings. We were, however, able to turn it around.”
The digging department, composed of Blakely Gill, Jaylin Mills, Aspen Jones and Lexie Marchant, had a combined 73 digs on the night and helped the Bulldogs lay the foundation for an impressive run against the Spartans.
On Friday, the Sundance team hosted the 3A Newcastle Dogies and were able to walk away with a victory against the larger school. Coming out hot, the Bulldogs established their towering presence at the net as Jaylin Mills threw down 16 kills for the night. The Dogies were unable to gain momentum and fell to the Bulldogs in three sets.
The final matchup for the weekend pitted the Bulldogs against conference rival, Big Horn. Coach Blasczyk summed up the conference matchup with the following: “Against Big Horn we started passing a bit too late in each set to take a set from them. But we realized that when we are passing well that they are beatable, if we get focused right away. During the third set of Big Horn we got to a point where the score was 24-24. The girls were fighting so hard and not letting anything drop. There were some amazing scramble plays and great defense. It was exciting and fun to watch. Now that we’ve experienced playing them I can’t wait to get another shot.”
The Sundance Bulldogs will host Hill City on Tuesday of this week and travel to Moorcroft on Friday. The first serve will go up at 5pm on Tuesday with the ‘C’ team, followed by JV and varsity.
Stats
SHS vs. Spearfish: 17-25, 24-26, 25-17, 25-23, 12-15
Aspen Jones: 1 ace, 16 digs, 11 kills
Lexie Marchant: 3 aces, 16 digs, 8 kills, 3 blocks
Annika Haugen: 2 aces, 7 digs, 2 kills, 34 assists
Blakely Gill: 24 digs, 3 kills
Jaylin Mills: 3 aces, 17 digs, 20 kills, 16 assists
Karly Marchant: 11 digs, 3 kills
Hailey Karol: 11 kills, 1 block, 3 digs
SHS vs. Newcastle: 25-16, 25-14, 25-19
Jones: 5 aces, 7 digs, 6 kills, 1 block
L. Marchant: 2 aces, 6 kills, 12 digs, 2 blocks
Haugen: 21 assists, 1 block, 4 digs
Gill: 1 ace, 13 digs
Mills: 3 aces, 8 digs, 16 kills, 11 assists, 1 block
K. Marchant: 3 kills, 7 digs
Karol: 8 kills, 2 blocks
Gracie Davis: 1 kill
SHS vs. Big Horn: 14-25, 18-25, 24-26
Jones: 6 digs, 5 kills, 2 assists
L. Marchant: 2 aces, 9 digs, 3 kills, 1 block
Haugen: 2 digs, 2 kills, 10 assists
Gill: 11 digs, 1 kill
Mills: 1 ace, 12 digs, 8 kills, 9 assists
K. Marchant: 2 digs
Karol: 7 kills, 4 blocks, 1 dig