Lady Bulldogs get big win over Class A rivals
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ST. IGNATIUS — The Lady Bulldogs used another strong team effort to pick up a big home win Saturday, sweeping Class A Ronan 25-16, 25-18, 25-18.
With the matchup featuring a pair of schools that co-op during track season, the players were well acquainted with each other’s abilities.
“The girls were really nervous and excited coming into the game, and so was I,” Mission coach Kendal Anderson said. “These girls play together a lot during the summer and really know each other. I guess this game was kind of a Mission Valley pride type thing.”
Both teams came into the match playing well this season, with Mission currently 9-2 overall and 4-1 in conference while the upstart Maidens have been making waves in Class A. It was not quite the match that everyone was anticipating, though, as Ronan seemed to come out sluggish and out of sync and never recovered.
“It really wasn’t one of our better games, but it was a win,” Anderson said. “The intensity just was not there. Ronan wasn’t getting the ball back over the net so we were never really able to get into any kind of offensive rhythm.”
Adessa Durglo and Sierra Scott led the Mission offensive attack with five kills each and Mackenzie Trudeau had 13 of the Lady Bulldogs’ 36 digs as Mission blew past a lethargic Maiden squad.
“I think Ronan maybe had an off night. I know that they have really been playing well lately,” Anderson said. “The beat Libby and hung in there with Polson, but this must not have been their best match. Everyone has games like that, though.”
Ronan had trouble returning serves from the Mission squad as the Lady Bulldogs finished the match with 14 aces, led by six from Loren Erickson.
“Ronan was just not having a very good passing game against us. We know what that is like,” Anderson said. “We had a match like that not too long ago too. When you can’t get the ball up to your hitters, then it is very hard to get anything going. You can see that in the low number of digs we had to make.”
Despite the big win, Anderson said she knows that it might not be the same when Mission faces Ronan again next week.
“We play them again next week and we are surely not going to take them lightly just because we beat them this time,” she said. “They had an off match against us and it will probably not be the same way next time around. We have to be ready to play a different team next time.”
While the match may not have been the close one everyone expected, Anderson says the win is a good way to get ready for the big week that is coming up for the Lady Bulldogs. Mission will face the only conference foe to defeat them so far this season, Bigfork, this week before heading to Arlee for a nonconference game Thursday. Mission closes out the week with another big conference matchup Saturday as the Lady Bulldogs host Eureka.
“It is definitely a confidence booster to get a win against a good Class A team like Ronan, especially with them doing well like they have so far this year,” Anderson said. “It really helps going into the rematch with Bigfork. This is a huge week coming up for us and this win should help us.”
Summary
Mission def. Ronan 25-16, 25-18, 25-18
Kills - Ronan 22 (Tailyr Irvine 9), Mission 25 (Adessa Durglo 5, Sierra Scott 5). Blocks - Ronan 2 (Bethany Coleman 1), Mission 3 (Durglo, Loren Erickson, Jennifer Larsson). Digs - Ronan 43 (Marissa McCrea 12), Mission 36 (Mackenzie Trudeau 13). Assists - Ronan 15 (Taylor Lynch 9), Mission 18 (Lauren Erickson 10). Aces - Ronan 6 (McCrea 3), Mission 14 (Erickson 6).
