The Alliance High School volleyball team traveled to Scottsbluff on Tuesday, October 24 to complete in the Sub-district B-8 contest. Their opponent for the sixth time were the Bulldogs from Gering. In a hard fought 5 set battle it was the Dogs from Gering downing the Dogs from Alliance 25-18 21-25 18-25 25-17 15-8. Gering would then advance to the championship game where they fell to top seeded Scottsbluff in three sets. With the loss Alliance now see their record drop to 15 and 17 for the season.
In set one it was Gering getting off to a quick start. The G Bulldogs raced to an early lead and never looked back. Kills by Jaelynne Clarke, Kaylee Henthrorn, and Josie Sanders caught Alliance close but it was Gering leading midway through the set 12 to 5. A kill by Alliance’s Addison Weber and a serving point by Regan Braun sliced the gap to 13 to 7. The rest of the set saw kills by Clarke, Sanders, and Weber to help the Dogs stay close. Set one ended with Gering on top 25 to 18.
Three straight points by Alliance’s Kinley Pfeiffer helped the Bulldogs grab the momentum in set two. Gering answered right back and led numerous times with its biggest lead coming at 17 to 13. Down the stretch Alliance would get key plays from Clarke, Shyla Salcido, and Alexis Libsack to go on a nice run. The set came to a close with A Bulldog Macey Seebohm serving 5 straight points. Down 21 to 20 Alliance responded with 5 straight thanks to kills by Kaiah Adams, Weber, and Pfeiffer to win the set 25 to 21.
The third set was a see saw affair with both squads enjoying the lead. Early kills by Clarke and points by Haylie Winters gave Alliance a cushion at 5 to 2. Knotted at 8 it was Gering taking the lead with 3 straight. Back to back ace spikes by Weber stopped the Gering rally as the contest was tied at 11. Later in the set with the game tied at 17 Pfeiffer went to the serving line and reeled off 7 straight points including a pair of aces to help the Dogs surge ahead. During the run Alliance got kills by Clarke. Set three went in the favor of Alliance 25 to 18.
With momentum on its side Alliance quickly went to work in set 4. More kills by Sanders and Salcido plus points and kills by Clarke helped Alliance move ahead 13 to 6. But it was all Gering after that. Down 7 points it was the Dogs from Gering turning the tables by running off 8 in a row. The Gering charge put them up 14 to 13. A kill by Pfeiffer and a point by Seebohm ended the run but the set ended with Gering going on another run. Set four went to Gering 25 to 17.
Gering ended the match with a dominating performance in set 5. The finale began with an ace block by Weber which was followed by 4 straight points by Gering Two more kills by Clarke and Sanders sliced the Alliance deficit to 9 to 6 but it was close as it would get. The final of set five was 15 to 8 in favor of Gering.
AHS 18 25 25 17 8
GER 25 21 18 25 15
Clarke had another monster night ending with 26 kills and 5 points. Alliance’s leading scorers were Pfeiffer who had 15 points and Seebohm with 12 points. Alliance went to Omaha Skutt on Saturday to play in the B 3 district title match with a trip to state on the line.