LADY BULLDOGS PICK UP TWO WINS

Mission defeats Lake County rival Arlee and picks up important

victory over Loyola

ST. IGNATIUS - Defense was the name of the game for the Mission volleyball team last week. The Lady Bulldogs collected over 100 digs in each of their three games and they improved to 8-8 on the season with wins over Class C Arlee and district foe Loyola.

"Our defense has definitely improved," Mission head coach Kendal Anderson said. "We are moving around the court better than we have in the past and really working to get to the ball. We are also reading the hitters better than before and adjusting to what they are doing before the ball comes over the net."

Mission started the week off on Tuesday, Oct. 11, with a five-game 3-2 marathon win against Arlee at home. Junior Sara Nerby was deadly with 20 kills against the Scarlets but it was by no means a walk in the park for either team.

Mission won the first game 25-19, but Arlee evened things up with a 25-18 victory. The Lady Bulldogs broked the tie with a convincing 25-14 win, but the Scarlets would force a fifth game with a nail-biting 25-23 fourth game score.

In the fifth game, it was all Lady Bulldogs and they pulled away for the 15-7 win. Senior Ashley Courville provided solid presence on Mission's side of the net, getting 23 digs, while Loren Erickson and Sarah Bowers both appeared to be doing their best John Stockton impressions with 22 assists apiece.

"Arlee is a scrappy team," Anderson said. "They don't let the ball drop much and they work hard. I think the girls played well against them but they also had their moments where we didn't look like the same team for awhile before we got back on track."

The momentum from the Arlee win carried over to Thursday when Mission picked up an important 3-1 district 6-B victory over Loyola.

"I think it was most important mentally for them," Anderson said. "Loyola has been within our grasp for a couple of years but we've never been able to get them."

Defense was again a premium for the Lady Bulldogs as Sydney Allard had 28 digs and the team had 111. Mission dropped the first game to Loyola 25-22, but won the next three games in dramatic fashion 26-24, 25-23, 25-23.

"Sydney is getting better at controlling the back row," Anderson said. "She is anticipating better and moving to the ball without hesitation. That's what I need my libero to do."

Nerby had nine kills against the Heartbreakers while Bowers had 19 assists in the matchup. The win gave the Lady Bulldogs a 3-3 record in league play.

"Loyola also went five with Florence, so I think that knowing that we beat them will help the girls get over their mental problems when playing big teams like Florence," Anderson said. "At the end of the day, we are playing six other high school girls, we need to remember that and not psych ourselves out over things so much."

Against Charlo on Saturday night, things were ratcheted to another gear as both squads posted around 100 digs apiece. After a slow start, the Lady Vikings were able to weather several Mission rallies for the victory.

"It was an off night for us," Anderson said. "There were a couple of times when the ball would go up and then just drop in between three girls. We weren't mentally there for that game and it showed."

The Lady Bulldogs won the first game 25-17, but found themselves down 21-11 in the second game. Mission went on a 8-4 run at the end of the game but the Lady Vikings were able to come away with the 25-19 victory to tie the match up at 1-1.

In the third game, Charlo opened a 19-11 lead but Mission battled back and pulled to within three points at 17-20. The Lady Vikings ended the game on a 5-1 run for the 25-18 win.

That set up a fourth game that was a battle the entire way. Both teams were tied on four different occasions but Charlo was able to take an 18-18 deadlock and go on a 7-3 run for the 25-21 victory and the match win.

Nerby had 15 kills in the matchup, while Stephanie Lewandowski and Ashley Courville both played great defense with 20 digs apiece. Erickson had 23 assists.

"We were running some new hitting options and the girls did fairly well," Anderson said. "There was some confusion over things which didn't help much but overall I think they adjusted well."