Junior high volleyball wins two, varsity drops match

ROGERS — After celebrating a pair of wins a few days earlier, the Decatur Lady Bulldog junior high A, B and varsity volleyball teams started their final away matches of the week by traveling to Rogers to face Thaden High School at the Arkansas Athlete Outreach facility, the home of the Lady Barnstormers. The contest ended with both junior high teams winning their matches but the varsity lost in three sets.

During the first meeting on Sept. 8 at Peterson-Owens Fieldhouse in Decatur, both junior high teams won their matches, while the varsity struggled through their matches, eventually losing to Thaden in three sets.

The junior high B struggled a bit in the opening set with the Lady Barnstormers keeping pace. But, eventually, Decatur pulled ahead for good, taking the set 25-17. The B team went on to take the second set and the match to end the week with three start wins.

The junior high A team had an easy time, opening its match with a first-set win, 25-11. In the second set, the Lady Barnstormers fought hard and kept the set close until a Decatur time-out broke the serve and the Lady Bulldogs junior high A took the win, 25-22, over the Thaden.

As with the Sept. 8 contest at home, the Decatur Lady Bulldog varsity struggled with a variety of simple mistakes, and the Thaden Lady Barnstormers took full advantage, winning the conference match in three straight sets.

The Decatur varsity team ended the week with two wins and one loss with just two more away contests left in the 2022 regular season.

The three Lady Bulldog volleyball teams were to travel to Mulberry on Oct. 11 at Yellowjacket gym in Mulberry (after press time). The final contest of the regular season is one that Decatur fans can easily attend since it is only 15 minutes away, in Centerton, on Oct. 14, to take on the Life Way Lady Warriors. The matches begin with the junior high B contest at 4:30 p.m.