Lady Bulldogs lose one, win one on the road
BENTONVILLE — Coming off three straight wins, the Lady Bulldog team stubbed its toes Sept. 10 with a big loss to the Hackett Lady Hornets on the road, dropping to fourth from third in the conference race. But the team redeemed itself Sept. 12 with a big conference win over the Northwest Arkansas Classical Academy Lady Spartans.
NWA Classical Academy is one of Decatur’s closest conference rivals, much like that of Gravette and Gentry. The short bus ride took only 20 minutes to get to the Classical Academy’s gym in Bentonville, so the Lady Bulldogs and the Lady Spartans were both well-rested and ready to face each other for the first time in 2019.
Decatur served first in set one. Destiny Mejia, the team’s co-captain, was behind the service line. And from Mejia’s first serve, it became apparent that Classical Academy was in for a fight. Mejia hit 16 straight serves before the Lady Spartans were able to drop a return into an opening on Decatur’s side of the court.
Decatur coach Tajhe Turner’s A team managed to regain its focus which had faltered during the Hackett match. The girls continued to pound Classical Academy’s defense until the end when the Lady Bulldogs took the final point to win set one, 25-11.
In Set 2, the Lady Bulldogs continued to build a lead over the Lady Spartans until they reached a score of 20-7, at which point Classical Academy took advantage of a series of Decatur errors to pick up eight unanswered points, pulling to within five. Turner took a much-needed Decatur time out to regroup and her strategy worked. The Lady Bulldogs managed five unanswered points of their own to take the second set, 25-15.
Although the Lady Spartans managed to stay closer to the Lady Bulldogs in the third and final set, Decatur retained its focus and eventually won the third set, 25-15, and the match in straight sets.
In the Hackett-Decatur contest played at Hackett High School, the Lady Bulldogs took the court against the conference leaders. In that match, the Lady Hornets held complete control of the contest, overpowering the struggling Lady Bulldogs in straight sets, 25-12, 25-9, 25-13, for the conference win.
The Decatur Lady Bulldogs continue on the road, taking on the Lavaca Lady Golden Arrows in Lavaca Sept. 17 and Providence Academy in Rogers Sept. 20. Both matches have 4:30 p.m. start times.