Take-no-prisoners Lady Bulldog netters win regional title

[caption id="attachment_11808" align="alignright" width="300"] Lady Bulldogs proudly displaying the medals they received this weekend as winners of the 2A West Regional Championships in Lander are (l-r) Madyson Jones, Mallory Smith, Trysa Flood, Shelby Wardell, Kendre Kidgell, Mikkel McIntosh, Kendra Price, Sami Newman, Alea Mayes, Andrea Monterde, Madison Bryson and Mandi Jo Baxendale.
Patti Carpenter photo[/caption]“Aggressive.” That was the word that coach Kisha McArthur used to sum up the play of the Lovell Lady Bulldogs during the Class 2A West Regional Tournament Friday and Saturday in Lander as the LHS volleyball squad defeated Kemmerer, Greybull and Shoshoni to win the regional title and earn the number-one seed going into this week’s state tournament.“They came out aggressive and wanted to win,” McArthur said. “They told me that we have to believe we could do it before it could happen and they did. They came out and played one game at a time.”The Lady Bulldogs opened up the tournament as the number-three seed from the Northwest and came out strong to defeat Kemmerer in the first game 25-11.“They came in with a play-to-win attitude and had the mindset that they were going to play to win and not play to lose,” McArthur said.After losing the second game 25-22, Lovell bounced back to take care of the Lady Rangers in the third and fourth games 25-18 and 25-15 to win the match.“In the second game, we were down 16-5, but they fought back and tied it at 19-19 and lost 25-22,” McArthur said. “I was proud of the way they fought.”Stats from the Kemmerer match are: Kendra Price, nine kills, 92 percent serving, two aces, 3.5 blocks, six digs; Mikkel McIntosh, 100 percent serving, 1.9 serve/receive average, 28 digs; Shelby Wardell, three kills, 38 assists, 95 percent serving, one ace, 3 serve/receive average, two blocks, 14 digs; Mandi Jo Baxendale, 13 kills, one assist, 94 percent serving, two aces, one block, 13 digs; Trysa Flood, 11 kills, 92 percent serving, 26 digs; Samantha Newman, four kills, three assists, 90 percent serving, .5 blocks, three digs; Madyson Jones, 10 kills, 1.5 blocks, four digs; Mallory Smith, one kill, 1.5 blocks, one dig; Kendre Kidgell, 100 percent serving, three aces, 2 serve/receive, one dig.GreybullIn the semifinals, the Lady Bulldogs met a familiar conference opponent, the Greybull Lady Buffs, who came into the tournament as the number-one seed out of the Northwest.After winning a close first game 25-21, the Lady Bulldog netters got out the brooms and won the next two games 25-14 and 25-18 to complete the sweep and advance into the regional championship match against the Shoshoni Lady Blue.“I told them to come out attacking the ball and they did that,” McArthur said. “They came out hitting and not giving a lot of free balls. It made it so Greybull had to work defensively, which took them out of their system.”Stats from the Greybull match are: Kendra Price, four kills, 90 percent serving, one ace, 2.5 blocks, three digs; Mikkel McIntosh, 100 percent serving, 1.7 serve/receive average, 22 digs; Shelby Wardell, one kill, 100 percent serving, 2 serve/receive average, 1.5 blocks, eight digs; Mandi Jo Baxendale, eight kills, 95 percent serving, two aces, 1.5 blocks, 16 digs; Trysa Flood, eight kills, 100 percent serving, one ace, 1.5 serve/receive average, 10 digs; Samantha Newman, five kills, three assists, 2.1 serve/receive average, .5 blocks, three digs; Madyson Jones, four kills; Kendre Kidgell, 67 percent serving, 1 serve/receive average, three digs.Championship matchThe Lady Bulldogs and the Shoshoni Lady Blue traded games in the championship match with Lovell winning the first game 25-20 and Shoshoni winning game two 25-12 to even the match at one apiece.[caption id="attachment_11809" align="alignright" width="200"] Lady Bulldog libero Mikkel McIntosh kept the ball in play throughout the 2A West Regional Tournament, making a major contribution to the team’s championship run.
Patti Carpenter photo[/caption]Games three and four were no different as Lovell won game three 25-15 and Shoshoni won a close game four 26-24 to force a winner-take-all game five for the regional title.In game five, the Lady Bulldog netters came out strong and crushed the Lady Blue 15-5 to win the match and the title.“Kendra Price served eight in a row in the fifth game with one ace,” McArthur said. “Our net play played the net great. We were blocking and recovering. I think everybody played the net well. They were getting blocks the whole tournament and it made the difference. As a hitter, if you are getting blocked, your mindset changes.”Stats from the Shoshoni match are: Kendra Price, eight kills, 76 percent serving, one ace, 5.5 blocks, eight digs; Mikkel McIntosh, 100 percent serving, one ace, 2 serve/receive average, 38 digs; Shelby Wardell, one kill, 46 assists, 100 percent serving, two aces, 2 serve/receive average, two blocks, 12 digs; Mandi Jo Baxendale, nine kills, 100 percent serving, one ace, 1.7 serve/receive average, three blocks, 26 digs; Trysa Flood, 24 kills, 100 percent serving, four aces, 2.1 serve/receive average, 17 digs; Samantha Newman, four kills, four assists, 80 percent serving, 1.5 serve/receive average, four blocks, three digs; Madyson Jones, seven kills, 2.5 blocks, six digs; Kendre Kidgell, 100 percent serving, one ace, 1.8 serve/receive average, one dig; Alea Mayes, 100 percent serving.State tournamentThe Lady Bulldogs will go into the Class 2A State Tournament as the number-one seed from the West and will face number four East seed Pine Bluffs Thursday at 1 p.m. If Lovell wins, they will play Friday at 4:30 p.m. against the winner of the Big Piney-Sundance game. If Lovell loses, they will play Friday at 1 p.m. against the loser of the Big Piney-Sundance game.“I think they are capable of getting to the state championship game, but they’ve got to come out like they did at Regionals and play one point and one game at a time,” McArthur said.“The team to beat is Wright. They only lost one match the entire season, so we won’t meet them until the championship game because they are on the opposite side.”

By Sam Smith