Last Tuesday the Alliance High School volleyball team hosted a triangular with Mitchell and Scottsbluff. The Dogs downed Mitchell in 2 sets 25 to 13 25 to 18 but fell to the Bearcats of Scottsbluff in two sets 25 to 15 25 to 15. With the split the Bulldogs now see their record go to 15 and 14 for the year. Mitchell’s record now stands at 9 and 20 while the Cats improve to 22 and 9. Scottsbluff now has downed Alliance in all three of their matches this season.
In the opener versus the Tigers of Mitchell, the Bulldogs came out red hot and seized the early momentum. Tied at one all Alliance scored the next seven of eight points to go up 8 to 2. An ace serve by Bulldog Kinley Pfeiffer gave AHS a spark that began their steak. It was followed by back to back kills by Jaelynne Clarke and 4 straight points by Addison Weber that helped Alliance take a six point lead. The last point by Weber was an ace serve. Clarke’s strong play continued later with an ace serve and another kill which pushed the lead to 12 to 6. Mitchell would rallying, closing the gap to 14 to 11 midway through the opening set but would get no closer. Kills by Clarke, Weber, and Kaiah Adams would stopped the Tiger rally. Three more points by Pfeiffer gave the Dogs some breathing and a10 point lead at 23 to 13. Set one ended with points by Haylie Winter and kills by Shyla Salcido and Bailey Shannon and AHS winning 25 13.
Play was tight in set two. The set was tied at 1,2,3,4,6,7,8, and 9. More kills by Clarke, Salcido, and Adams paced the Alliance attack. With the contest tied at 9 the Dogs went on a mini run which gave them the lead at 13 to 9. Pfeiffer again led the attack with 3 straight points. Another kill by Weber and a point by Winter keyed another Alliance rally which put the score at 15 to 11. Back to back ace serves by Clarke and a kill by Bulldog Macy Brooks made the score 19 to 14 in favor of Alliance in the closing moments of the final set. Set two ended with key plays by Pfeiffer, Macey Seebohm, Weber and Clarke. Another ace serve by Pfeiffer finished off the Tigers with the Dogs victorious 25 to 18.
Mitch 13 18
AHS 25 25
Stats had Clarke end the night with 7 kills and 6 points while Pfeiffer added 2 kills and a game high 9 points. Weber contributed with 5 kills and 4 points.
In the second game of the night it was the Bearcats getting the best of Mitchell in two set.
The finale saw an early run by the Bearcats in their contest against Alliance. Tied at 2 the Bluffs scored 6 of the next 7 points to push the lead at 8 to 2. A kill by Clarke would stopped the streak by the Cats but it wasn’t enough. Scottsbluff answered with strong net play and stretched its lead to 14 to 7 before another Clarke ace spike. The set came to a close with the Dogs getting kills by Weber, Brooks, and Adams and the Cats winning 25 to 15.
A block by Clarke began play in set 2 that was followed by a kill by Weber that knotted the score at 3. Scottsbluff was up for the challenge as the Bearcats would score five of the next 6 points to move ahead 8 to 4. An Alliance kill by Adams and a point by Salcido made things interesting and following an ace serve by Seebohm, the Bulldog deficit was at one at 9 to 8. Unfortunately it was as close as Alliance would get. A point by Regan Braun and kills by Clarke and Weber kept AHS close at 17 to 13. The Bearcats put the contest away, scoring 8 of the final 10 points to win 25 to 15.
Bluffs 25 25
AHS 15 15
Final stats had Clarke ending with 5 kills and Seebohm and Weber finishing with 2 points each.
The Bulldogs hit the road on Thursday with a contest in Chadron.