Lady Bulldogs pick up much-needed win
MULBERRY — As the long road winds down for volleyball teams across the state, the Decatur Lady Bulldog junior high A and varsity teams took a familiar journey south for the start of the final regular season week of 2022. Decatur’s final destination, a little town called Mulberry, for a 2A conference thriller with the Lady Yellowjackets in the gym at Mulberry High School on Oct. 11.
Decatur has been to this gym several times during the summer, participating in the Yellowjacket Summer Volleyball Camp for both the junior high and high school teams. Both Lady Bulldog teams dominated the camp, winning every match during the three-day event.
After Decatur settled into familiar surroundings, it was time for the two-match series with the host team.
Since Mulberry lacks enough young players to have a B team, It was determined by both the Lady Yellowjacket coach and Lady Bulldog head volleyball coach Cali Lankford that there would only be a junior high A match.
Earlier in the season, Lankford faced several situations where a Decatur competitor did not have enough youngsters to have a B team. So Lankford revised her playbook to this situation.
The A team played the first set and if that team played well and won, the B team played the next set. This change worked very well for the junior high team, as they won in only two sets every time this plan was used. Mulberry was no exception.
Mulberry put up a strong fight, forcing the Decatur players to earn every point. Mulberry pulled to within two points before reality hit the Lady Bulldog A team.
From that point, Decatur pulled away and took set one, 25-14.
The junior high B players faced the same scenario, and at one point the Lady Yellowjackets pulled ahead by one on a series of effective serves by one Mulberry player. This prompted Lankford to call a timeout in an effort to break the serve. It worked, and soon Decatur pulled ahead for good, taking set two, 25-18, and keeping the junior high team’s winning streak alive at six straight matches.
In the varsity contest, both teams played well, taking advantage of every little mistake each team made. Decatur managed to take the first set, 25-17.
The second set was the most exciting volleyball playing of the night, with both teams staying within one point of each other. When Decatur reached set point at 24-23, the Lady Bulldogs celebrated the win too soon, and suddenly the Lady Yellowjackets and Decatur were in a long volley with the point favoring Mulberry, and it was tied at 24 all. Finally, Decatur pulled it together and hit two straight points for the second set win.
The third set was a continuation of the second, but this time the Lady Bulldogs went into a slump and allowed the Lady Yellowjackets a chance to pull ahead and take the win, 25-21.
The final set was a complete reversal of the previous, with the Decatur Lady Bulldog varsity team taking and holding the lead, winning 25-21, and taking the conference match three sets to one with one match left in Decatur’s regular season — Life Way Christian from Centerton.