Ladies face top teams

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
What do you do when faced with the number one ranked team in 2A and the number four ranked team in 3A with an accumulated 23 wins and three losses on the season, back-to-back, without two starters? 
You take the court and give it all you’ve got.
That is exactly what Lady Dogie head coach Keeley Anderson’s squad was faced with last week as they traveled to Douglas on Thursday to take on the Lady Bearcats who moved up in the 3A state polls from fifth to fourth place, and then welcomed the unanimous number one ranked Sundance Lady Bulldogs — also defending 2A state champions — on Friday. 
Though Newcastle couldn’t pull out a win over either team, the ladies rose to the challenge and made their opponents work for their wins.
“Last week was a rough one for us,” Anderson admitted. “But we had the opportunity to work against some really powerful hitters and got some really good digs which was awesome. Though our blocking was a little off, the girls stayed positive and never gave up and given we just changed some things up, it gave us a chance to work on that.”
Douglas presents many weapons, not the least of which is the 6-foot, 4-inch Alyson Fertig who is a force at the net in every aspect of whatever position she is playing. 
“Alyson was on and when she is in that zone, it’s nearly impossible to shut her down,” Anderson chuckled. “Knowing her as a person, and also her being a senior, I thought, ‘good for her.’ But at the same time, it was hard to watch her have that kind of game against us.”
While blockers did what they could against the all-state player, the back row was tasked with doing their best to defend her attacks, and according to Anderson, Shelby Tidyman wasn’t backing off direct shots by the big girl.
“Shelby blew my mind all weekend with how she played in the back row, and the digs she was able to get up to give her team a chance,” Anderson nodded. “It was especially impressive because our blocking game was a little off, and we faced off against some really formidable hitters both nights.”
In the first set, Newcastle held their own and put up a respectable 17 points before Douglas took the win, but the constant offensive barrage of the Lady Cats beat the Lady Dogies down as the night progressed, and they swept Newcastle 25-13 and 25-8 to close out the match win.
“We started off decent, and then I think we just got worn out because they just kept pounding it at us.” Anderson mused. “The thing that was nice was that the girls’ mood stayed pretty positive despite the fact they were getting beat.”
The Lady Dogies had little time to recover as Sundance came to the Dome on Friday, and the defending state champs in 2A volleyball didn’t take long to show all in attendance why they brought home the hardware last season. The Lady Bulldogs ran a 6-2 offense and regardless of the rotation, consistently placed two big hitters in the front row at all times. Not only was their net play impressive, their defensive line let very little hit the floor.
As the match began, the two teams drew their respective lines in the sand and the contest was a battle involving many lead changes and nine ties throughout the first set, until Sundance was able to gain the momentum to pull away with the 25-20 win over Newcastle.
In the second set, the Lady Dogies found themselves in a bit of a lull which the Lady Bulldogs used to their full advantage to pull ahead to a daunting 21-6 lead. The Crook County team found their groove with one rotation that gave Newcastle fits, however, once the serve returned to the home side of the net, the Lady Dogies went on an impressive 9 point run to close the gap a little before Sundance was able to get those final two points to take the 25-15 win.
Having turned things around late in the second set, the Lady Dogies went blow for blow with their opponent in the third, and pivotal set. Sundance was on the attack, and had Newcastle on their heels quite a bit, however the home team showed athleticism and grit to hang in with the more experienced squad. 
Late in the set, Sundance pulled to set and match point against the Lady Dogies, but Newcastle didn’t quit and drew within one point before the Lady Bulldogs were able to put an end to the set and the match, taking the 25-23 win.
“I was proud of how we played in the first and third sets. We’ve made some changes in the last week, so we are kind of rebuilding our system again,” Anderson explained. “As much as a loss is disappointing, the positivity and the energy were there, and if we can get our hitters and blockers to be on at the same time as our passers, we can do a lot so I’m excited for this week of practice.”
Anderson is hoping to get two good wins this week. The ladies played Torrington in Newcastle on Tuesday, and will play the Lady Bulldogs in Wheatland on Friday. This is the second time around for matchups against these two Southeast quad teams, and both were able to pull out wins against the Lady Dogies.
“We took notes and we adjusted for the holes in the defense that were apparent last time we met these teams,” Anderson stated. “The last time we played, our attitude wasn’t great, but I think we’ve adjusted for that as well, so I’m feeling good about our chances this time.”