That was Close Lady Bulldogs!

The Milbank Area Lady Bulldogs volleyball team pulled out a close one Thursday night with a 3-2 victory over Clark-Willow Lake. The win improved the locals record to 4-5 on the season.

Milbank Area started out the match sluggish and unprepared and fell 25-18 in the first set, which seemed to surprise the players and fans. The Lady Bulldogs took charge and downed the Cyclones 25-7 in the second set which is what most fans expected from the matchup. The locals secured a third set win at 25-16, but struggled again in the fourth set to fall 25-14. Determination and a desire to win was shown on the Lady Bulldogs’ faces as they took charge and won the final set at 15-10.

Caryssa Mielitz led the Milbank Area attack with 11 kills, 14 digs, two blocks and 11-13 serving. Molly Rick had a solid game with eight kills, 16 digs, one block and two aces on 13-15 serving. Rachelle Gabriel pounded out eight kills, two blocks and one dig while Mikaela Hoeke also had eight kills, 14 digs, 22 assists and one ace on 10-12 serving.

Madi Schulte had a solid night at her libero position with 15 digs, one ace on 20-21 serving and one assist on 6-6 setting. Mackayla Schuelke went 25-26 setting with five assists, 12-14 serving with two aces, one kill and 17 digs. Also contributing for the Lady Bulldogs were Katie Cannedy, two kills, 16 digs, two assists and one ace on 14-15 serving, and Tori Brandenburger, one kill, one dig and two assists on 5-5 setting.

Junior Varsity – The Milbank Area junior varsity team suffered a 2-0 loss to Clark-Willow Lake with scores of 25-15 and 25-23. Alexis Folk led the locals charge with five kills on 22-23 hitting. Mady Hilbrands followed with three kills on 7-7 hitting while Jaecy Engebretson added three kills on 5-5 hitting, one ace on 7-7 serving, three assists on 12-12 setting and seven digs. Maty Lightfield went 15-15 setting with one assist, 10-10 serving with two aces and eight digs. Jaden Hoeke had two aces on 6-7 serving, and Gabbi Cummins had nine digs.

                                                                                                   Sioux Falls Christian Tournament

The Lady Bulldogs captured fourth place at the highly competitive Sioux Falls Christian volleyball tournament Saturday, September 5, with a 1-3 record on the day.

Milbank Area faced number one rated Class A Sioux Falls Christian in its opening match of the tournament and fell 2-0 with scores of 25-9 and 25-19. The girls overcame a change in the lineup and  battled for every point in the contest.

In the second match of the day, Milbank Area secured a 2-1 victory over Central Minnesota Christian School, located near Wilmar, MN. The Lady Bulldogs won the first set 25-18. The opponent came back with an 25-18 win before Milbank Area closed out the match at 25-21.

Milbank Area then faced a very tough Unity Christian team from Orange City, IA. The locals fell 2-0 with scores of 25-14 and 25-7. Unity Christian went on to win the tournament with two big wins over number one rated Class B Warner.

The Lady Bulldogs then went into the placing match and took Sioux Falls Christian down to the wire. The Lady Bulldogs fell 2-1. The Chargers won the first set 25-16. Milbank Area came back and won the second set at 25-20 before dropping 25-13 in the final set.

Mielitz led the charge with 18 kills, 14 digs, one block and three aces for the tournament. Rick was close behind with 12 kills, nine digs, two blocks, one assist and one ace. Gabriel added 11 kills, six digs and two blocks while Brandenburger had four kills, four digs and three assists. Cannedy tallied three kills, 15 digs and two assists; Schuelke, two kills, 24 digs, 39 assists and one ace; Schulte, 20 digs, one assist and one ace, and MyKayla Thyne, two digs and one assist for the day.

                                                                                                 Milbank Area 1, Redfield-Doland 3

Milbank Area dropped a hard fought battle to the Redfield-Doland Pheasants September 3 in an evenly matched contest. The locals lost the first set 25-23 before taking the second set 25-20. The Lady Bulldogs started out a little slow in the third set and fell 25-14. The teams teetered back and forth throughout the entire fourth set. Milbank Area eventually fell 25-22.

Mielitz led the locals with 19 kills on 49-59 hitting and three aces on 8-10 serving. Rick went 14-18 hitting with four kills and one block while Gabriel added four kills on 12-16 hitting and two blocks on the night. Hoeke went 71-73 setting with 17 assists, and Schuelke added seven assists on 30-30 setting, three aces on 21-22 serving and 15 digs. Schulte went 11-12 serving and had 18 digs while Cannedy added 22 digs on the night.

Junior Varsity and C Team – To start off the night, the Milbank Area junior varsity team defeated Redfield-Doland 2-0 with scores of 25-18 and 25-20 and improved its record to 3-1. The C team fell to 2-1 on the season with a 2-1 loss to the Pheasants. Redfield-Doland won the first set 25-20. Milbank Area came back and took the second set at 25-17 before falling in the final set 10-15.

                                                                                                 Milbank Area 3, Tiospa Zina 0

The Milbank Area Lady Bulldogs cruised to a quick 3-0 victory over the Tiospa Zina Wambdi September 1 at Agency Village. The locals took charge from the start and completed its business in 45 minutes with set scores of 24-13, 25-9 and 25

Mielitz led the Lady Bulldogs with 11 kills, six aces and three digs. Gabriel followed closely with nine kills and four aces while Hoeke added five kills, eight assists, one ace and three digs. Rick tallied four kills, and Cannedy had three kills, seven assists, six aces and three digs. Also adding to the Lady Bulldog totals were Schuelke, one ace, 16 assists, two kills and four digs; Schulte, 8-8 serving, one assist, one kill and six digs; Thyne, 2-3 serving and one dig, and Brandenburger, 1-1 serving.

Junior Varsity and C Team – Milbank Area defeated Tiospa Zina 2-0 with scores of 25-13 and 25-12 in junior varsity action. Engebretson led the Lady Bulldog attack with three kills on 3-3 hitting, three aces on 6-7 serving, 6-6 setting and two digs. Hilbrands followed with one kill on 8-10 hitting and four aces on 10-12 serving. Folk added one kill on 3-3 hitting. Also contributing were J. Hoeke, 13-15 serving with six aces; Lightfield, two assists on 6-6 setting, and Cummins and Sadie Holland, two digs each. The Milbank Area C team downed Tiospa Zina 2-0 with scores of 25-16 and 27-25.

                                                                                                Milbank Area 3, Deuel 0

The Lady Bulldogs swept all three contests over the Deuel Cardinals in its opening high school volleyball match August 25. The varsity team secured a 3-0 victory with scores of 25-8, 25-8 and 25-16 to conclude the evening.

Mielitz led the team with 15 kills on 24-26 hitting, five aces and six digs. Gabriel went 14-16 hitting with 11 kills and one solo block while Rick added five kills on 7-10 hitting and one block. Hoeke went 35-35 setting with 20 assists, 19-19 serving with seven aces and 11 digs. Schuelke finished the night with seven assists on 11-11 setting and two aces. Also contributing to the victory were Brandenburger, one kill and three assists; Cannedy, five kills and one ace; Thyne, three aces on 12-13 serving, and Schulte, one ace.

Junior Varsity – The Milbank Area junior varsity team secured a 2-1 victory over Deuel by scores of 24-26, 25-14 and 15-12 Tuesday at the Milbank Armory. Folk led the team with four kills on 11-14 hitting. Hilbrands followed with three kills on 14-17 hitting and one ace on 7-7 serving while Engebretson added four kills on 6-9 hitting, seven aces on 19-21 serving, two assists on 17-17 setting and eight digs. Lightfield went 23-23 setting with four assists, 15-15 serving with five aces and had six digs. J. Hoeke had four assists on 17-17 setting and six digs. Other members on the junior varsity team include Katie VanderWal and Montana Swenson.

C Team – The Milbank Area C volleyball team opened up the evening with a 2-0 victory over Deuel. The young Lady Bulldogs won by scores of 25-19 and 25-15. Team members are Kylie Kasuske, Elisabeth Schwenn, Mackenzie Weinkauf, Abby Michels, Kimberly Van Sambeek, Kellie Christians, Makayla Johnson, Christena Whitman, Chloe Bender, Tori Quade, Kylie Roggenbuck, Anna Mathews, Katie Wollschlager, Gabbi Cummins and Tonya Meyer.