The 2024 season began for the Alliance volleyball on Thursday with a home match up with the Gering Bulldogs. Alliance put forth a super effort but fell short, dropping the contest in 3 sets. Gering downed the home town Dogs 25-17 25-18 and 25-23. Alliance got 2 wins in the opening battles. The Bulldogs won 25-12 25-22 in the reserve game and posted a 25-20 25-11 victory in the JV match.
Momentum went to the side of Alliance early in set #1. An ace serve by Alliance’s Taylee Thompson plus a kill by Bulldog Alexis Libsack helped Alliance surge ahead 3 to 0. Gering answered back with 3 straight scores that tied the game at 3. Action remained close throughout the opening set. A kill by Bulldog Addison Weber would knot the score at 6 all. Kills for Alliance by Libsack and Josie Sanders followed as Alliance stay close at 11 to 9. Thanks by an ace serve by Macey Seebohm Alliance stayed in striking distance at 13 to 11. A Gering 4 to 1 run pushed the guest’s lead to 17 to 12 later in the set. Up by 4, the visitors put the set away with 4 consecutive points to move ahead 22 to 14. Two more Thompson points and an ace block by Libsack got Alliance to within 6 at 23 to 17 but the set came to an end with 2 more Gering points. First set Gering 25 Alliance 17
Four early points by the G Dogs in the opening stages of set 2 gave the guests a big advantage. Alliance came back with a big run of their own to square up the contest at 8. Two kills by Sanders and ace spikes by Libsack and Kaiah Adams tied the match. With the game later tied at 11, Gering went on an 8 to 1 run which put the Bulldogs ahead 19 to 12. A Weber kill stopped the Gering run and an ace serve by Seebohm gave Alliance a chance. Back to back kills by Sanders and Libsack got Alliance to within 2 at 20 to 18 but 5 straight by Gering ended the set with guests on top 25-18.
Set three saw both teams enjoying the lead. Play started with an ace serve by Thompson as the hometown Dogs moving out to a 2 to 0 lead. Later on, another kill by Sanders gave Alliance the 6 to 3 margin. Tied at 7, Gering put the next 2 tallies on the scoreboard to go ahead 9 to 7. The teams then traded points to keep the matchup close. Three straight kills by Libsack, Sanders, and Weber pushed the Alliance lead to 15 to 12 midway thru the set. Up 17 to 13, Alliance forced a timeout by Gering. The guests responded with 6 straight to move ahead 19 to 17 before another ace by Weber stopped the Gering run. The game’s next 3 points belonged to the visitors as Gering gained a 22 to 18 lead. More big plays by Weber kept Alliance close at 24 to 23. The contest then came to a close with Gering tallying the final point. Third set went to Gering 25 to 23
GER 25 25 25
ALL 17 18 23
Final stats showed a balance attack for Alliance. Weber 6 kills 3 points Seebohm 5 points Sanders 6 kills 2 points Libsack 5 kills 9 points Thompson 4 kills 8 points.
Alliance will travel to Douglass, Wyoming over the weekend for tournament play.