By Travis Smola
It was only appropriate on senior night that senior libero Morgan Preston put the finishing point on Three Rivers with an ace serve to give the Lady Bulldogs a 3-1 victory.
Things were much closer than they appeared on paper as Three Rivers and Vicksburg went back and forth on game point to end the first set 28-26. Three Rivers took the second set 25-15 but the Lady Bulldogs buckled down and took the final two sets 25-22 and 25-22.
Preston gave a lot of credit to the younger players for helping grind out the victory. “Everyone showed up. All of our freshman showed,” she said.
Both sophomore Rylie Richter and junior Kaytee Harvey led the team with 13 kills. Harvey leads the team this season in kills with 248. Freshman Hannah Vallier had 7. The Lady Bulldogs also had some excellent blocking up in front of the net through the whole match with Harvey and Schriemer contributing 4 apiece. They’re also tied for team highs with 88 each on the year. Hatridge also had 3 of her own.
Sophomore Tailynn Knapp also had an excellent game, contributing 12 digs and an ace serve. Schriemer and sophomore Camille Wadley also had 12. Richter had 11 and an ace. Preston led the team with 37. She has 307 for the year so far. Schriemer added to her staggering 685 assists on the year with 41 against the Wildcats. She also contributed two ace serves.
Through the whole match, it appeared the younger players just really wanted to send the seniors home with a victory on senior night.
“They’ve been behind us all year,” Schriemer said. “Both Morgan and I trust them so much.”
Both girls said senior night was a bit surreal. “I’ve seen a lot of senior nights, you never really think about yours,” Preston said.
The continued scrappiness of the Lady Bulldogs has led them to a 16-13-6 record with a 7-2 record in conference. Head Coach Katrina Miller wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the young team after losing seven seniors last season. But the younger players have stepped up their game in a big way.
“They’re a great team, they have a lot of energy,” Miller said. “They’ve more than surpassed my expectations for this season so far.”