Mission makes it farther than ever before

SUPERIOR — The Mission volleyball team made history last weekend.

In the Western B divisional tournament in Superior, the Lady Bulldogs advanced the farthest any volleyball team from Mission ever has.

Last year, the team won one game in the tournament. This year, the team won two.

The Bulldogs started out against a strong Deer Lodge team, losing in three 21-25, 21-25, 17-25.

“We played well overall,” head coach Kendal Anderson said. “Deer Lodge has been playing together for a long time. They are more seasoned than us.”

Deer Lodge’s solid defense posed a problem for Mission and Deer Lodge will bºe joining Loyola in the Class B state tournament.

Sophomore setter Ashley Courville had 21 assists.

Mission’s next opponent was a little easier.

Valley Christian finished fourth in their district tournament and the Bulldogs dispelled them in three 25-15, 25-14, 25-14.

Senior middle hitter Rachel Jensen had nine kills and three blocks. Senior libero Katie McDonald had 12 digs.

Mission’s next game against Florence was more exciting.

The Bulldogs lost the first two sets, 16-25, 23-25 but weren’t discouraged. They knew it was possible to come back and win the game as Charlo did it against them in the regular season.

The Bulldogs bore down on defense and won the third and fourth sets 25-20, 25-16.

The fifth set went Mission’s way and the Bulldogs held off elimination, winning 15-10.

The key to the set was Mission’s kills. Florence put up triple blocking against junior middle hitter Adessa Durglo and double blocking against Jensen. Instead, Mission started to tip the ball over the net and Florence didn’t adjust the coverage.

“All they had to do was drop the ball down,” Anderson said.

Jensen finished with 15 kills and two blocks while Durglo had 13 kills and three blocks. 

The next opponent was a bittersweet one for Mission: Eureka.

“Our girls are really close with Eureka off the court,”Anderson said. “My girls cheer for them and vice versa.”

 One team would move on and the other would end its

season.

Eureka won in three sets 7-25, 23-25, 14-25.

“I didn’t fell like the girls are as competitive versus Eureka,” Anderson said. “They don’t have the same intensity.”

The game started off good but then McDonald got hurt and Mission fell apart.

“For some reason, our team relies on her so heavily,” Anderson said. “You can see the difference in the scores.”

McDonald entered the game in the second set but exited in the third.

“She’s just a leader,” she said.

Junior outside hitter Sierra Scott served all four aces for the Bulldogs.

Mission’s season started off strong but Anderson said her team lost momentum halfway through.

“We spent the last few weeks before the tournaments getting back together,” Anderson said.

One high point of the season for Anderson was Mission’s regular season win over Troy in Troy’s new gym.

Another was the win over Florence.

“It felt like we just won a state championship,” she said. “We were so excited.”