Lady Bulldogs and Eureka find out that they’re evenly-matched

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ST. IGNATIUS - Saturday night's matchup between Eureka and Mission looked like it might not ever end with both teams putting together close games decided by razor-thin margins. While Eureka came away with the 3-1 victory (25-22, 26-24, 20-25, 25-23), rest assured these two teams will probably battle again.

"These were very close games," Mission head coach Kendal Anderson said. "We are pretty evenly matched with Eureka. It was difficult to know what to expect from them because they had a new coach this year."

The first game saw Mission take an 8-4 lead but Eureka got back into it and tied things up at 9-9. Nine ties and five lead changes in the score later, the Lady Bulldogs fell 25-22.

In the second game, Eureka held a 23-14 lead and looked like they were headed to an easy game win but Mission battled back with a 10-1 run to tie things up 24-24. However, Eureka moved to 2-0 in the match with the 26-24 win.

"I think if we had won that second game, we would have been able to seal the deal with the rest of the games," Anderson said.

The Lady Bulldogs opened up a big lead of their own in the third game, going up 20-12 but Eureka made a comeback of their own and pulled to within one point at 21-20.

However, Mission was able to finish it off and win 25-20.

"Eureka started shanking a lot of their passes and we adjusted to their tip," Anderson said. "They scored a lot of points in the first and second game by tipping on us."

Both teams brought it in the fourth game, with Eureka taking the early 6-2 advantage but Mission tying things up at 6-6.

Eureka took the lead at 10-6 but the Lady Bulldogs once again pulled even at 14-14. The match stayed close the rest of the way and both teams sat at 23-23 before Eureka was able to score the final two points for the game and match win.

"It's definitely humbling for us," Anderson said. "We know that we need to keep working hard if we want to win. Nothing is going to be handed to us. We need to work on adjusting to teams' strengths. For example, Eureka had a 6'1" middle and we weren't able to get around her as much as I would have liked to seen. We need to find ways to make it work no matter who we are hitting against."

Sara Nerby led the Lady Bulldogs with 10 kills and three aces, while Loren Erickson roamed the net and had three blocks in the game.

"Loren has definitely stepped up this year in the front row," Anderson said. "We're still working on her approach for hitting but once she gets her timing down with the other setter, she will be a huge threat."

Erickson also had 17 assists while Sydney Allard anchored the defense with 12 digs. The Lady Bulldogs are 1-2 in match action this season.

"We're looking forward to seeing Eureka again, but it wouldn't be until divisionals," Anderson said.