Decatur junior high teams win, varsity loses to Thaden
DECATUR — The Decatur Lady Bulldog junior high A and B and varsity volleyball teams returned to Peterson-Owens Fieldhouse Thursday afternoon for the first of four home contests in Decatur. Up first was the Bentonville-based Thaden Lady Barnstormers.
Opening the three-match contest was the junior high B team which had only lost two matches this season. In the first set, the Lady Bulldogs pulled out way ahead of the Lady Barnstormers by as much as 10 points. But Thaden managed to cut that lead in half before the young Lady Bulldogs put the set away 25-14. The second set belonged to the Lady Bulldogs as Decatur junior high B took the set, 25-5, and the match over the Lady Barnstormers.
The junior high A team faced a tough Lady Barnstormer team in the first set. Like the B team, the A team jumped out in front early and held a commanding lead until a few fundamental mistakes by the Lady Bulldogs allowed Thaden to close the scoring gap. A quick time out by Decatur’s head volleyball coach, Cali Lankford, changed the momentum of the contest back in the Lady Bulldogs’ favor. Decatur took the first set, 25-17. The Decatur Lady Bulldogs remained in control and took the second and final set, 25-11, for the match.
While both junior high teams celebrated their continuing success, the varsity team had its hands full with Thaden’s varsity team. A series of fundamental mistakes in serving, setting and hitting began to plague the team, and the Lady Barnstormers took full advantage of the weakness. Thaden took the first set, 25-13.
The Lady Bulldogs put the first-set mistakes behind them and began to compete with the Lady Barnstormers. But Decatur hit several lows during the second and third sets that eventually cost them as Thaden took both sets, 2519 and 25-22, for the match.
All three teams continue their home series with a contest against the Mulberry Lady Yellowjackets on Tuesday (after press time) and Rogers Founders Classical Academy on Thursday. Both matchups begin with the junior high B game at 4:30 p.m.