Despite a rough week of volleyball action, the Lady Bulldogs are determined to reset and finish the regular season strong. Haxtun took on Otis, Wiggins and Merino, all on the road last week, suffering 3-1 set losses in all three matches.

“It was a tough week for our varsity,” Head Coach Paige Thompson said. “We did not play solid volleyball and we are going to have to put quality sets together to finish out the next two weeks. We would play one strong set and then the next set we would make too many errors to come out with a win. Our junior varsity girls had a good week and I was happy with how they played.”

Otis jumped to an early two-set lead on their home court last Tuesday, taking set one, 25-22, and set two, 25-17. The visiting Lady Bulldogs battled, taking set three 25-18, but in a close, hard-fought fourth set, Otis came out on top, 25-20, for the win.

Junior hitter Allie Thompson led her team in attacks, putting down 13 kills throughout the four set match in Otis. Taylor Schram followed with 10 kills while Ella Coffin added seven. Defensively, at the net, Schram led in blocks with four assisted. Megan Walker and Cassidy Goddard each tallied three assisted blocks.

Goddard, Coffin and Bella Tori each served 100 percent in Otis. Walker netted two serving aces followed by Thompson and Schram, each with one.

At the setter’s position, Schram registered 20 assists. Thompson put up 16.

In the back row, Schram dug up 14 balls on defense followed by Walker with 13, Thompson with 11 and K’lyn Bornhoft, with 10 digs. On serve receive, Coffin registered 24 passes to her setters. Bornhoft netted 19 passes on serve receive followed by Walker with 16.

Two nights later, the Lady Bulldogs hit the road again, this time to Wiggins for a triangle with the Lady Tigers and the Merino Lady Rams. Wiggins took sets one and two, but again the Lady Bulldogs came alive in the third, fighting to keep the contest alive. Wiggins took a 10-point fourth set victory to seal the deal.

For the second consecutive contest, Thompson led her team in kills, this time with 15. Schram put down nine kills followed by Walker with seven. Thompson also registered one assisted block.

From behind the service line, Walker, Kylee Workman, Goddard and Coffin all went 100 percent against Wiggins. Walker racked up a solid five aces in the contest. Thompson, Bornhoft, Schram and Workman each had one ace.

Setters Thompson and Schram combined for a total 31 assists in the match up with Wiggins, netting all but seven of the team’s assists.

On serve receive, the Lady Bulldogs totaled 90 solid passes, led by Coffin with 29. Bornhoft followed with 23. In the digs column, three Lady Bulldogs put up double-digits, led by Schram with 18 and Walker and Coffin, each with 10.

After facing Wiggins, the Lady Bulldogs took the court in a contest with the Merino Lady Rams. Merino claimed set one, 25-12, but the Lady Bulldogs evened things out in set two with a 25-18 win. The Lady Rams earned set three and four by scores of 25-6 and 25-14, respectively, for the win.

At the net, Schram slammed down 10 kills against Merino followed by Thompson with nine and Goddard with four. Thompson also tallied three blocks.

Three Lady Bulldogs served 100 percent for the night including Workman, Goddard and Coffin. Thompson, Schram and Goddard each tallied one ace.

As a team, the Lady Bulldogs put up 32 assists throughout the four-set contest led by Schram with 13 and Thompson with 11.

Bornhoft led her team on serve receive, registering 34 digs against Merino. Coffin added 29 followed by Walker with 17. Defensively, Schram led in the back row with 18 digs followed by Bornhoft and Coffin, each with 10.

“Varsity is going to have to reset and play as a team to finish the season strong,” Thompson said as her team heads into their final regular season contests.

This week, Haxtun is set to face off with Wray and Holyoke in a triangle event slated to take place in Wray on Friday, April 16. On Tuesday, April 20, Haxtun is set to travel to take on Caliche.