Mixed Bag At LHHS Volleyball Match

Thursday night’s volleyball match-up between the Havasu Knights and the Goldwater Bulldogs was back and forth; however, the JV won out their series 2-0.

The varsity volleyball team gave it their all, only to come up short in a 3-2 series loss against the Bulldogs.

Starting with the JV, the team meshed well and worked together with real team effort to easily overcome the Bulldogs. Through both games, it was numbers 6 (Kelly Boucher), 13 (Madisyn Connelly) and 14 (Lynnsey Slezak) who had made the most noticeable efforts on the court. When it came to the defense, Connelly and Slezak were on fire throughout both of their games, making it more difficult than usual for the Bulldogs.

The Lake Havasu High School Junior Varsity and Varisty volleyball teams competed against the Barry Goldwater High School Bulldogs, Oct. 5, 2017 at Lake Havasu High School. Junior Varsity won their game, while Varsity ended up losing. Shelby Horn/RiverScene Magazine

In game 1, the Knights were off to an exceptional start, feasibly capturing game one in a 25-13 win. It was in game two where the Knights got off to a less than ideal start, trailing 4-8, but it didn’t take long until things were clicking again to secure the 25-22 win, securing a series win.

As for varsity, the Knights began their series red hot, with an exceptional performance by No. 1 (Taylor Thompson) who led the team in scoring. Through game one, some excellent defense was also given by No. 12 (Rylinn Smith).

The Knights ended up taking game one for themselves with a comfortable 25-14 win. Game two of the five-game series had been just the exact opposite unfortunately. The defense had faltered and the scoring wasn’t coming as easily, the Bulldogs took game two with a replicated score of 25-14.

During game three, numbers 9 (Tatum Liska) and 15 (Terra Pierce) stuck it to the Bulldogs on the defensive end, making scoring a difficult task yet again. It had been No. 8 (Savannah Senica) who put the Knights over the top offensively in game three to bring a 25-19 Knights win to take the series lead.

Even though the Knights had the series in control, things would soon get troublesome. In the first minutes of game four, Thompson made offensive strides just as in game one, but the Bulldogs’ defense kicked in sooner rather than later.

The Lady Knights fought hard only to come up short in a 28-30 thriller in game four that had been back and forth on almost every single play. Game five was right around the corner and the Knights knew it was now or never, so they took the court and played with heart, as well as spirit.

The final game had been just as close as game four, yet it was the Bulldogs taking home the victory for the series as the Knights had fallen 19-17.

Even though the Knights didn’t take the series, they proved how well they worked as a team overall, and will be back to prove it in their next game.