Hill City from South Dakota came to Alliance on Saturday, October 26 as a part of a volleyball triangular with Liberty Tree, Colorado and the host Bulldogs. The Rangers defeated AHS in 2 very competitive sets, ousting the Dogs 26 to 24 and 25 to 19. With the loss, Alliance fell to 12 and 21 for the year. The JV matchup went just 2 sets with both squads recording wins. Hill City captured set 1 25 to 10 while the Lady Bulldogs took set 2 25 to 14.
The early advance went to the hosts in the opening minutes of set #1. Alliance got off to a great start thanks to early points and kills by Bulldog Addison Weber, Ryli Poss, Macey Seebohm, Alexis Libsack, and Taylee Thompson. Three straight Thompson points helped the Dogs take an early 7 to 2 lead. Kills by Weber, Poss, and Libsack followed that put AHS ahead 10 to 3. Poss then continued her fine play by recording an ace spike and 3 points as the Bulldogs surged ahead 16 to 8. Momentum then unfortunately went to the guests later in the set. Hill City put 6 of the next 7 points in the scoring column to reduce their margin to 17 to 14 before another kill by Weber gave the Dogs a lead at 18 to 14. Two more kills by Weber ensued as the Lady Bulldogs kept the lead at 4, 20 to 16. The Rangers answered back with 6 straight to surge ahead 22 to 20. An ace spike by Bulldog Josie Sanders stopped the spree and 2 points by Libsack gave the Dogs match point at 24 to 23. The set closed with the guests scoring the final 3 points and garnering a 26 to 24 win.
Set 2 started with Hill City making all the plays. The Rangers raced to an early 6 to 2 lead before points and kills by Weber and Thompson helped the Bulldogs slice their deficit. Another kill by Poss was next but the Rangers kept the pressure on with another mini run which gave the visitors a lead at 12 to 7. Thanks to kills by Sanders and Seebohm and points by Libsack, AHS closed the gap to 13 to 9 but 4 consecutive points by the Rangers kept the advantage to 17 to 9. AHS wouldn’t quit as a kill by Sanders was followed by 3 straight points by the Bulldog senior that closed the deficit to 17 to 13. Kills down by the stretch by Weber made things interesting but Hill City answered back with one last push that the Dogs couldn’t overcome. Set 2 Hill City 25 Alliance 19
HC 26 25
ALL 24 19
Stats Sanders 3 kills 3 points Weber 8 kills 4 points Thompson 4 points Seebohm 3 points 1 kill Poss 6 kills 3 points Libsack 3 kills 4 points.