Lady Dogies get the W!

Sonja Karp
NLJ Sports Reporter
 
It’s been a long time coming, but the Lady Dogies picked up their first conference win of the season, and their first win since August last Friday in their rematch against the Lady Bulldogs of Wheatland. The victory was made all the sweeter given it came in front of their home crowd on senior night.
“The win felt really great,” head coach Jenny Willard exclaimed. “The girls really played as a team and capitalized on momentum when we had it.”
The first set began a little shaky for the Lady Dogies as Wheatland jumped out to an early lead. However, as Newcastle settled in, they began a bit of a comeback but would ultimately succumb to the Bulldogs 15-25. 
When the teams switched sides of the net, they also switched momentum control and the Lady Dogies turned the tables on Wheatland securing the 25-19 victory. 
Once again a side change reversed the outcome of the third set with the Lady Bulldogs taking it 25-21.
Going into set four down 2-1, it was do or die for the Lady Dogies. While it has been a bit of a struggle for the team to get over the hump so far this season, it appeared that the ladies had no qualms about their situation as they dominated Wheatland to tie the match at 2-2 with a 25-12 win.
The Lady Bulldogs won the coin toss and chose serve for the pivotal final set, and as such, Newcastle was given the choice of side and they wisely chose the side of the net that had seen nothing but victory on the night. From the first serve, the Lady Dogies pushed and never let up, taking the set and the match with a 15-5 win.
“The girls did a great job in sets four and five of really stringing balls together which Has been a focus for us all year,” Willard smiled. “As far as teams only winning on the one side of the net, I think that was just a mental thing but volleyball is a game of momentum so whatever works, I guess!”
Newcastle didn’t have long to enjoy the thrill of victory as they were on the road on Saturday for a rematch against the Lady Blazers of Torrington. In their previous matchup, the Goshen County squad won in three straight sets, though Newcastle made them work for all three wins.
The scenario played out in a very similar fashion on Saturday, as Torrington won 25-22, 25-22 and 25-13. 
“We started out the first two sets looking really good and coming off of a win the night before was nice,” Willard began. “We were playing ball-for-ball with them, but we just couldn’t finish at the end.”
In the third set, the wheels started coming off the bus as unforced errors on Newcastle’s side of the net allowed the Lady Blazers to run away with the set and the match.
“We seemed to lose our heads and couldn’t put anything together,” Willard frowned. “We played them well, especially from before when we played them. We really tried to take advantage when Reece Halley was not matched up in the front row with our middles, because she is their main threat. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t finish.”
This week the Lady Dogies travel to Thermopolis for a rematch on Friday and are off Saturday. “We have changed a lot of things since we played Thermop at home so I am very excited about the potential the girls have to compete and take that win,” Willard nodded. “I feel like we gained a lot of confidence last week and are starting to get where we want to be.”