The Alliance High School volleyball played their final home game on the year on Saturday in contest against Hill City, South Dakota. In a back and forth matchup it was the visitors coming out on top, downing the Bulldogs in four sets 25-15 26-24 23-25 27-25. Alliance was victorious in the earlier games. The Dogs defeated the Rangers in the reserve game 25-16 27-25 and also got the win in the Junior Varsity game 25-15 25-11. Heading into districts the varsity team now sees it record at 15 and 16.
In set one early kills by Alliance’s Jaelynne Clarke and Kaiah Adams got the Bulldogs off to a strong start. Adams had two kills get Alliance close at 8 to 7. Hill City answered back with a 6 in a row to surge ahead 14 to 7. Kills by Clarke and points by Regan Braun and Haylie Winter kept things interesting midway through the opener but down the stretch it was too much Rangers. Final of set one 25 to 16 in favor of the guests.
Play was super close in set two. The set was tied at 1,2,5,7, and 10. Key plays by Clarke, Kaylee Henthorn, Braun, and Josie Sanders gave Alliance an early spark. A kill by Addison Weber pushed the Bulldog margin to 10 to 8. An ace serve by Bulldog Shyla Salcido help the hosts maintain the lead at 17 to 14. Tied at 19 Alliance went to Clarke and she responded with 3 kills. Following a kill by Sanders Alliance led 24 to 22 but couldn’t put the guests away. The set ended with 4 straight points by the Rangers and Hill City winning 26 to 24.
Early points by Bulldog Kinley Pfeiffer helped Alliance get off to a fast start in set three. A Pfeifer ace put Alliance up 4 to 1. Later in the set kills by Clarke and points by Winter made the score 15 to 13 in favor of the Bulldogs. Tied at 20 the Dogs went ahead for good thanks to kills by Clarke and Weber and points by Pfeiffer. The set came to a close with another Clarke ace spike and Alliance winning 25 to 23.
Weber got Alliance off to a good lead in set four with 2 early kills. With the set knotted at 9 the Bulldogs got 2 points from Braun and a kill by the senior to hold on to the lead. Three straight points by Pfeiffer including another ace made the score 15 to 10 in favor of Alliance. Clarke added 2 more kills as the game remained close. A Winter point put the Bulldogs ahead 24 to 21 but Hill City responded with a late run. The Rangers ended the game with 3 straight and went on for the win 27 to 25.
HC 25 26 23 27
ALL 16 24 25 25
Stats showed Clarke with24 kills while Pfeiffer closed with 12 points. Adams finished with 5 kills and Weber had 4. Alliance will next be in action on Tuesday with a district game versus Gering.