EAGLES RIGHT SIDE HITTER MYA LANGLEY IS BLOCKED BULLDOGS JENESSA MALLORY AND KARLIE HARRIS DURING THE FIRST SET OF THE CRESWELL VS HARRISBURG MATCHUP ON OCT. 2. THE CRESWELL BULLDOGS WON AGAINST THE HARRISBURG EAGLES 3-0 AND HAVE A CURRENT OVERALL SEASON RECORD OF 8-7. Christopher Palanuk/The Creswell Chronicle
The 10th-ranked Lady Bulldogs volleyball team took care of business in three straight games against two league opponents last week, dropping the visiting eighth-ranked Harrisburg Eagles 25-9, 25-17, 25-18 on Oct. 2 and the visiting La Pine Hawks 25-15, 25-9, 25-12 on Oct. 4.
”It was Homecoming Week and there were quite a few distractions, but the girls played really well,” said Creswell Head Coach Anna Baltrusch. ”They just rocked it.”
Breanna Dapron paced the team with 16 kills and two aces against Harrisburg. ”She was playing awesome,” said Creswell Head Coach Anna Baltrusch.
Bailey Howell had six kills, seven digs, and 10 assists. Karlie Harris added six kills.
Kailee Cooper had eight digs and two aces; Jane Marquess had seven digs and two aces; Kylee Whitson had three aces and two stuff blocks; and Jenessa Mallory provided 15 assists and had four aces.
”We served them really tough,” noted Baltrusch, who also credited team captain Howell with bringing the team together and keeping them focused: ”Bailey really impressed me with her leadership that night,” she said. ”She’s bought into the idea that they all need to be working together as one to be successful – especially when the other team just scored a point, so the kids focused on coming together and refocusing between each play.”
Howell had eight kills and four aces against La Pine, serving 15 of Creswell’s 25 points in the first set. ”We served them really tough, and Bailey was serving great,” Baltrusch said.
Dapron also had eight kills. Whitson had four kills and four aces; Cooper had seven digs; and Mallory provided 15 assists.
”Our goal for the game was not to get aced, and we didn’t,” Baltrusch said. ”It was a good game.”
The week’s victories have Creswell second in Mountain Valley Conference standings with a 4-1 record, behind 2nd-ranked Santiam Christian (4-0).
”We need a couple of big wins against top teams to move into the top eight, so we can be guaranteed a home first-round state playoff game,” Baltrusch said. ”But the girls could beat anybody if they play like they played against Harrisburg in every game.”