Lady Bulldogs slipping in conference standings

The Lovell Lady Bulldogs volleyball team (10-7 overall) dropped a heartbreaker in Worland on Saturday afternoon in four sets to drop to 0-2 in conference play.

It took extra points for Worland to win the first set, 28-26, before Lovell bounced back and took the second, 25-20.

After jumping out to a sizeable lead to begin the third set, the Lady Bulldogs struggled with a curse of hitting errors that the Lady Warriors capitalized on to come back and win 25-23 before going on to win 25-21 in the fourth set to seal the victory.

“We are still trying to take small steps toward one common goal,” head coach Tera Kostelecky said. “We are learning to be a team with hunger and desire.”

Kostelecky says her team is committed to fighting the uphill battle, and taking Worland four sets took mental toughness, pointing out that Worland only scored a total of one point more than Lovell combined in the entire game.

“I feel like we outplayed them,” she added. “It was absolutely beautiful to see Celeste (Lindsay) hammer the ball down twice on overpasses by Worland.”

The sophomore led the Lady Bulldogs with a whopping 16 kills in the four sets along with three blocks and an ace.

Senior Raegan May also added 11 kills to go along with 16 digs, while Chaylee Betancourt had seven kills, three aces, three blocks and a pair of digs.

Kennadee Owens put the ball down six times and had two blocks, and Libby Mickelson and Breeah Jones both had five kills each.

Mickelson also had two aces and 12 digs in the game.

Setters Kenadee Rael and Kira Collins split the responsibility of assisting their teammates at the net.

Rael tallied 13 assists and an ace while Collins had 21 assists and seven digs.

Libero Kindle Collins led the defensive effort from the back row with 25 digs, an ace and two kills and had a 95% serve receive rate with 43 receptions.

UP NEXT

The Lady Bulldogs make the short trip to Powell on Thursday afternoon for games set to start at 4, 5, 6 p.m.

“We need to harness lots of positive energy to carry us into that match,” Kostelecky said. “We know it is going to take all of us on the same page at the same time for a full three sets to win.”

After that, Lovell will have an open weekend to provide much needed mid-season rest to re-energize heading into Conference Duals the next weekend.

JV & FROSH

The strong Lady Bulldog freshman squad continued their dominance with a clean sweep at Worland, 25-10, 25-3, to remain perfect on the season, while the junior varsity also won in straight sets, 25-18, 25-21 over the Lady Warriors.

“With the talent this group possesses, we are able to run a more advanced offense during our games, and that made us a much more competitive team,” coach Angie Hitz said of her ninth-grade group. “Although these girls are quiet and reserved, it is deceiving because they are beasts on the court.”

Coach Natalie Collins is also happy with how the junior varsity squad has come along so far this season.

“We are undefeated, too, this season, and although we have had some injuries that were setbacks, these girls look strong and bring a lot of hustle and energy on the court,” Collins said.