Lady Bulldogs improve to 11-0, beat CCS

By Demetrice Elmore
UCA sportswriting

St. Joseph's Lady Bulldogs defeated the Conway Christian Lady Eagles in a three game volleyball match Tuesday, 25-17, 25-18, 25-11, at the Conway Christian home gymnasium.

The Lady Bulldogs improved to 11-0 overall and 7-0 in 3A-Central Conference play.

“We played average with a lot of mistakes, but it was a big win,” St. Joseph coach Luke Davis said. “We can do a lot better.”

The Lady Bulldogs started Game 1 with senior captain Veronica Bausom hitting hard for the first point of the game. St. Joseph junior Amy Schichtl served four consecutive points, giving the Lady Bulldogs an 11-4 lead. Both teams had some trouble serving in the net Tuesday, with each serving three into the net in Game 1. The game ended with the Lady Eagles hitting long.

“Veronica Bausom stepped up in a big game and led us,” Davis said. “She played really well tonight.”

The Lady Bulldogs started Game 2 with Bausom putting up the first point. She finished with six kills for the match. The Lady Bulldogs began Game 2 with a 6-0 lead before Lady Eagle Morgan May recorded the first point for Conway Christian. The Lady Bulldogs kept the lead throughout Game 2. With the score at 20-17, the Lady Bulldogs and Lady Eagles had a good volley with the Lady Eagles' Olivia Meriweather delivering a point. A game violation was called next when the Lady Eagles were apparently out of rotation, giving St. Joseph a point, 21-18. The Lady Bulldogs, would, however, take control and sophomore Torri Carter would serve the last four points ending Game 2.

“ We had to cut down on free balls and get more kills,” Bausom said.

The Lady Bulldogs dominated Game 3 with junior Jessica Justice serving six consecutive early to set the tempo. The Lady Bulldogs would never give the Lady Eagles a chance to get close as CCS struggled to hit the ball inbounds on many plays and had 10 net violations, including hitting in net and serving in net. Game 3 ended with the Lady Bulldogs having a strong lead of 14 to win the match.

“We didn’t come ready to go," Conway Christian coach Heather Law said. "We had to change our lineup due to illnesses and we were facing a lot of adversity with missing players and playing a prior game just the night before. Our defense was not getting down, and we just played our weakest game of the season.”

The Lady Eagles will be playing again at home Thursday against Nemo Vista. Law said the St. Joseph match was a wake-up call and her team (7-2 in conference play) would come ready to play.

The Lady Bulldogs will try to continue their unbeaten season at Perryville on Thursday.