Lady Bulldogs sweep Rosebud for third win of week

By Wynrick Smothers

UCA Sportswriting

The St. Joseph Lady Bulldogs swept the Rosebud Lady Ramblers in three sets Thursday after a minor scare in the last one.

With the 25-12, 25-13, 25-23 win, the Lady Bulldogs improved to 8-2 overall, 5-1 in the 3A-Central conference.

Afterward, Lady Bulldog Coach Luke Davis said the focus of his team isn’t always what it needs to be.

“We played OK,” he said. “When you get a big margin like we had, it’s very easy to lose focus. You can’t expect the other team just to lie down. They came out in the third game and played hard. They gained confidence from our mistakes, and we just kind of basically did what we had to do.”

In the third set, the Lady Bulldogs jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead with junior Madeline Moix serving for all six points.

Not long after, Lady Rambler Harley Mariner led Rosebud to four straight points and kept her team within striking distance.

Rosebud’s biggest lead came toward the middle of the set, 17-14, but it was not long before the Lady Bulldogs rallied back to take the lead. A couple of late errors ultimately led the Lady Ramblers to their fate.

As the third set was coming to an end, seniors Sydney Spradlin and Meagan Briggler helped boost their team to victory. Spradlin is coming off a great conference match against Mayflower where she accounted for 20 digs and served for 19 points. Davis added that Briggler is one of his better hitters and his main kill threat.

All in all, Davis was happy with a win, but he also felt the need for improvement for future matches.

“When it’s a conference game that’s what we’ll take,” he said. “It’s a win, but we need to clean it up for the big picture.”

The Lady Bulldogs are currently second in conference play with their only loss to No. 1 Atkins. The Lady Bulldogs are perfect on the week in conference play, previously defeating Riverview and Mayflower.

After the Panther Power Jam in Greenbrier on Saturday, the Lady Bulldogs will play host to Perryville on Tuesday, Sept. 24 and then be looking for revenge against Atkins at home next Thursday, Sept. 26.

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