Lady Bulldogs VB: Mission rises to the occasion
THOMPSON FALLS - Every game, Lady Bulldogs head coach Kendal Anderson rates her team's passes on a scale from 0-3, with three being the highest compliment. Last Thursday in their opening district tournament match against Plains, a 3-0 sweep, Anderson said her team's passing had a myriad of 0s and 1s. However, in their second-round match up against Bigfork, the No. 2 seed and a squad that had beaten them twice in the regular season, it was 3s across the board.
"Bigfork just wasn't able to stop our offense," she said.
Mission defeated Bigfork 3-0, with scores of 25-19, 25-22, 25-11, as junior Jen Larsson and senior Adessa Durglo both had nine kills and three blocks. It was a defeat the Lady Vikes, who looked like the team to beat during much of the regular season before a few late losses, couldn't recover from and they ended up getting bounced from the district tournament.
"I knew one of the top teams during the season was going to get eliminated and I was afraid that might be us," Anderson said.
After downing Bigfork, it was still a tall task for the Lady Bulldogs in the undefeated game as the No. 1 seed Eureka took the first game 25-23, but Mission won the next three 25-18, 25-19, 25-18 for the 3-1 win. Larsson had 11 kills again, and four blocks while senior Mackenzie Trudeau played great defense with 20 digs."It was kind of cool for the girls to forget about the fact that we hadn't beat Eureka," Anderson said.
Eureka was able to storm back to the championship game but Mission proved to be the better team again, winning 3-2 in thrilling fashion. After winning the first two games, 25-13, 25-20, Mission was reminded why Eureka was regular season champs as they lost the next two, 19-25, 15-25. That set up a fifth game for the district championship and the Lady Bulldogs prevailed 15-11. In the match, Durglo was the leading offensive force with 11 kills and Trudeau backed her up with 21 digs.
"I probably had 10 people come up to me that I didn't even know and said it's so much fun to watch my team play," Anderson said. Mission came in with the No. 3 seed and came out champions, showcasing just how deep and unpredictable the 7-B district was this year.
"I was nervous going into the tournament knowing how the teams have been so close together," Anderson said.
What Mission accomplished more than any other team was how well they played together. Anderson said her team did an excellent job of getting the ball to their setter, sophomore Loren Erickson, and getting great balls for kills.
"Jen and Odessa led the team in kills. All of my outside hitters were hitting the ball very well but I think it was an overall great team effort," she said. "I think they're believing in themselves now."
Mission will now play Valley Christian at 2 p.m. in the divisional tournament next Thursday in Superior.
"We need to take advantage of every set we get and really attack the ball," Anderson said. "We need to dominate at the net and shutdown the other team."