The Lady Dragon volleyball team went two for two against district opponents to keep their conference record undefeated.  Not only did they defeat both of their competitors, but they swept both matchups, winning three games to zero.

Malad traveled to Aberdeen to play the Tigers Wednesday, September 18 for their first game of the week.  They jumped right in to take the lead and quickly found themselves up 9-2.  The Tigers had a few lucky points come their way as the Lady Dragons landed a ball out of bounds and in the net.  But after those few points the MHS team went on an impressive run that ended the game with a final score of 25-5.  

The push was accredited to the team as a whole but the hitting by Oliva Nelson and Brinley Clark as well as the serving by Anistyn Tovey led the charge by the Lady Dragons.  Tovey strategically put six serves across the net that were challenging for the Tiger passers to handle.  Seeing the defenders deep in the court, Tovey floated the serve just over the net to drop far short.  In an attempt to pass it up, multiple Aberdeen players went for the ball, desperately hoping to keep it in play but instead shanked it out of bounds.  

Tovey served the next two short and the Tigers slowly began to adjust, pulling their passers up in better position for the short serves.  Then switching up her plan, Tovey began serving to the back line.  The passers were once again out of position for the serve and failed over and over again to return a successful play against Malad.  Brylee Oglesbee finished off the first game with a perfectly placed short serve that Aberdeen could get under but couldn’t get under control as they passed it out of bounds to give Malad their final point of the game.

Oglesbee began serving for the Lady Dragons as they moved into game two, serving up three aces in a row before the Tigers could rally back.  Just as fast as the game began, Malad found themselves up 6-0, and continued to push their score with hardly a rebuttal from Aberdeen.  

With the significant lead, the MHS offense moved to expand their play book, setting up Tovey and Riglee Peterson, defensive specialists, with multiple back row attacks.  From the service line, Brynnlee Jones moved to her jump serve, bringing even more intensity to the already challenging serve receive the Tigers had to attempt.

As the game came down to the wire with only one point left, Aberdeen put up a strong rally, forcing Malad to earn their second win. From the strong side, Clark brought an attack that couldn’t be stopped as she punched the game’s final kill through the double block for the Malad point.

Clark slammed the very same attack for the first point of the third game.  The Lady Dragons pushed ten points before the Tigers marked their first on the scoreboard.  Dominating in the final game as they had the previous two, Malad only allowed only six points to Aberdeen, winning 25-6.

The following night, the Lady Dragons hosted West Side Pirates in what would be their second home victory of the season.  Preparing for the matchup, Malad knew their opponent had the talent to make it a challenging game.  But as the night progressed it was evident that the Pirates were still no match for the Lady Dragons.

After going back and forth on the court and on the scoreboard for the first few points, the two teams were tied at just 3.  Being the skilled team that they are, Malad adapted and West Side didn’t, allowing the Lady Dragons to go on a run.  Their run consisted of stellar plays like when Jones dug a strong Pirate attack that Izzy Haycock set behind her for opposite hitter Paityn Ward to slam down for the kill.  Just a few plays later, West Side attempted another attack that Mady Vanbebber and Ward blocked back to the Pirate court.  They managed to pop it up but passed it over the net, lending to the perfect placement for Vanbebber to hit back down.

West Side slowly began to make some adjustments, namely they began blocking the cross court hit.  Jones was not about to be defeated and began hitting down the line instead, landing the ball on the open corner to tally up points for Malad.  The team easily won the first game 25-9.

The second game didn’t go over as smoothly as it came with both a little improvement to the Pirate’s play and an unfortunate slump for the Lady Dragons.  Down 16-9, West Side began making a comeback as game two began to close out.  Placing a perfect tip beyond the MHS block, followed by serving an ace, West Side came within one point of Malad to make it 23-22.

The Lady Dragon defense dug deep as the Pirates attempted to tie the game with an aggressive attack, led by the scrappy passing of seniors Tovey and Peterson to put Malad at game point. Jones confidently stepped up to the line to serve, sending over a ball that was too challenging for the Pirates to play as they pushed it out of bounds, giving the Lady Dragons one more point to finish the game.

A renewed MHS began to play as the third game began, taking off from a tied score of 4-4 to eventually lead 14-6.  Their intensity on the court was demonstrated as they played the ball to the line, covered their hitters, followed their teammates on a long pass, and hit with greater consistency and accuracy.

Clark strung together a series of hits where she tooled the ball off the block or punched it through where they previously had been able to shut her down.  Vanbebber and Nelson took turns at the net to deny the Pirate attack with a number of their own successful blocks.

West Side did all they could to compete as Malad pulled away but the Lady Dragons continued to pull away.  At 19-9, the Pirates capped out their score while Malad went on a 6-0 run, ending the game with a solid double block by Nelson and Ward.

Head Coach Camie Tripp commented, “The team is really settling into this rotation and we are seeing a lot of success.  The defense is so solid and our hitters are making huge improvements.  I’m really proud of how they have adapted and adjusted this season.”

Coach Tripp and the Lady Dragons are excited to have two home games in their next week as they host the Grace Grizzlies on Wednesday, September 25 and the Soda Springs Cardinals the following night.

Volleyball Results 

MHS vs Aberdeen

Wednesday, September 18, 2024

25-7 I 25-5 I 25-6

Kills Digs Aces Blocks Serve/Receive Accuracy

Izzy Haycock 3 8 1 0 0

Anistyn Tovey 1 7 4 0 2.0/3

Paityn Ward 2 7 0 0 1.0/3

Brynnlee Jones 11 7 2 0 3.0/3

Brinley Clark 9 3 0 0 0

Olivia Nelson 9 0 0 0 0

Mady Vanbebber 1 3 0 1 0

Brylee Oglesbee 7 5 0 0 3.0/3

Riglee Peterson 1 9 2 0 2.3/3

Quincee Hammer 0 3 4 0 0

MHS vs West Side

Thursday, September 19, 2024

25-9 I 25-22 I 25-9

Kills Digs Aces Blocks Serve/Receive Accuracy

Izzy Haycock 4 12 1 3 0

Anistyn Tovey 0 12 0 0 2.3/3

Paityn Ward 4 4 0 1 3/3

Brynnlee Jones 9 9 1 1 1.6/3

Brinley Clark 9 9 0 1 0

Olivia Nelson 6 2 0 7 0

Mady Vanbebber 3 4 0 5 1.5/3

Brylee Oglesbee 0 10 0 0 1.7/3

Riglee Peterson 0 17 3 0 1.6/3

Quincee Hammer 0 3 1 0 0