For over 2 hours the Alliance volleyball squad battled Rapid City Christian on Thursday. And in the end it was the Bulldogs getting a 5 set victory. Alliance got an 11 kill 11 point effort from senior Addison Weber in downing the Comets 25 22 21 25 25 19 20 25 16 14 in a thriller played at Alliance High School. With the W, the Dogs go to 4 and 6 for the year. It was a clean sweep for hosts as Alliance captured wins in both the reserve game and in the junior varsity contest. The reserve affair went to AHS by scores of 25 14 25 23. Alliance also bested the Comets in the junior varsity battle, winning 25 20 and 31 to 29.
Play began with a close first set. The set was tied at 2, 3, 4, and 5. An early kill and ace block by Weber kept the Dogs in the battle. Kills by Weber and Ryli Poss made it an 11 to 11 affair later in the action. Down by 5, Alliance received big plays from Poss, Weber, Kaiah Adams, and Alexis Libsack to knot the match at 18. Ace serves ensued from Weber and Brinlee Lanik that gave the Dogs a 22 to 20 lead. The set ended with plays from Weber and Poss as the Lady Bulldog took the opener 25 to 22.
Four Adams kills in set 2 carried the Dogs. Weber was also solid in the set, adding 4 kills and a point. A Weber ace spike tied the game at 7. Three Lanik tallies then pushed the Alliance advantage to 10 to 7. Rapid responded with a rally later in the set to go ahead 17 to 16. During the stretch, AHS got more plays from Weber and Adams but it was the Comets coming out on top 25 to 21.
Ten times in set three the contest was tied. Four points in a row by Alliance’s Paz Cody gave the Dogs a lead at 8 to 7. The Lady Bulldogs would also get plays by Olivia Krejci, Adams, and Maslin Breen midway through the set to take control. Knotted at 18, Bulldog Kenley Jelinek went to the line and tallied 5 in a row, including a pair of aces. The set came to a close with Alliance winning thanks to big plays by Lanik and Jelinek. Final of set 3 Alliance 25 Rapid City 19
Rapid City would pull away late in the fourth to tie the match at two. With the contest tied at 12, the Comets outscored the Dogs 10 to 4 to go up 22 to 16. Adams, Weber, and Breen helped the hosts stay close. Adams ended the set with 4 kills and 4 points while Weber added 4 points. Three kills by Breen also helped Alliance stay in striking distance. In the end, it was the visitors holding off the Dogs 25 to 20 forcing a fifth and final set.
Set 5 started with the Comets taking an 8 to 3 advantage. Early efforts by Weber, Adams, and Libsack stopped the Rapid run. A kill by Poss made the score 10 to 5 with the Dogs trailing. A tally by Jelinek was next that put the deficit at 4. Action then really got heated as the Dogs attempt a big comeback. It was led by points by Brooke Bailey and kills by Weber and Libsack. Knotted at 14, Libsack went to the service line and finished off the contest with 2 straight points. Final of set 5 Alliance 16 Rapid 14
RC 22 25 18 25 14
ALL 25 21 25 20 16
Stats Krejci 3 kills Weber 11 points 11 kills Libsack 3 points 3 kills Poss 3 points 5 kills Bailey 5 points Jelinek 6 points Breen 6 kills Cody 7 points Adams 6 points 13 kills
Alliance will travel to Cozad for a weekend tournament.