By Wynrick Smothers
UCA Sportswriting
The St.
Joseph Lady Bulldogs’ volleyball season came to an end when they lost to Hoxie, the No. 4
seed from the Northeast, in the opening round of the Class 3A State Tournament, 25-16, 25-14, 25-14.
St. Joseph had earned the top seed from the Central with its district tournament championship but could not transfer that performance
into the state tournament. The loss puzzled Coach Luke Davis, who couldn’t put his finger on any particular reason as for the cause.
“It’s one of those deals where I could come up with a thousand excuses, but bottom line is we didn’t
show up,” he said. “We played very well in the district tournament and, for
whatever reason — if I knew the answer I could be making a lot of money — we just
didn’t show up for that game.”
Despite the final loss, the Lady Bulldogs had a pretty
remarkable season, finishing with an overall record
of 21-7 (14-2 in conference play).
In the end, Davis said he was proud of his team.
“For the most part it was a
good year; I’m proud of the girls, especially my seniors,” he said. “They got
better every year (seniors); we didn’t finish the way we wanted to this year,
but those guys definitely had a good career and I’m proud of them.”
With seniors Megan
Briggler, Rachel Briggler, Linzy Hoelzeman, Madison Seiter and Sydney Spradlin
departing, a new group of Lady Bulldogs will have to step up. With only two seniors-to-be, Madeline Moix and Holly Rega, St. Joseph will have some big shoes to
fill in 2014.
"Next year we’ll only have two
seniors and one junior, so we’ll definitely be a lot younger,” Davis said.
“Whether or not we’ll be better or worse will depend on how much work they put
in over the summer. My younger girls have a lot of potential, but they’ll
definitely have to work at it.”
Next season is likely to be a
rebuilding year for St. Joseph with the Lady Bulldogs, who will be very young and
inexperienced in some areas, but Davis and his team are looking forward to the challenge.
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