Milbank Area Wins the Battle of the Bulldogs

The Milbank Area high school volleyball team secured an exciting 3-2 non-conference road victory over the Madison Bulldogs in the battle of the Dawgs on Tuesday, October 13. Milbank Area improved to 12-8 on the season with the win.

If you are a volleyball fan, you have undoubtedly witnessed the psychological aspect of the game that goes with multiple changes in the momentum. This matchup was a prime example of what can happen during that type of up-and-down play. Milbank Area started the first set lax and under confident and committed several errors, resulting in a 25-8 loss.

The second set was a complete turnaround for the locals. Milbank Area quickly jumped ahead 6-2 as Madison appeared to fall apart with several errors. The home team pulled together and began playing closer to its potential and maintained the lead throughout the entire set. Molly Rick closed out the set at 25-22 with a big block.

Things continued in Milbank Area’s favor in the third set with an early 10-5 advantage. Milbank Area kept working hard and again maintained the lead all the way to 21-17. Madison battled back with three big kills and a Milbank Area error to tie the score up at 21-21. The opponent committed three errors before Caryssa Mielitz belted out a kill to secure the set at 25-22.

The contest took another big momentum swing in the fourth set when Milbank Area found themselves behind at 4-10 early on. Madison set the ball up more consistently and pounded out some big kills while Milbank Area struggled to get its offense rolling. Madison knotted up the match at 2-2 with a 25-11 win and extended the contest into the fifth and final set.

Milbank Area trailed to start the fifth set at 1-3, but quickly came back to tie the it up at 6-6. Madison made two hitting errors which put Milbank Area ahead 8-6. Madison came back and the teams again knotted the score up at 9-9 before the locals took over. Mielitz dropped in a kill before Rick added an ace to surge ahead 11-9. Madison’s top hitter belted out a kill to cut the deficit to 11-10. Milbank Area then took it home. Mikaela Hoeke added a kill and an ace before Mielitz belted out a kill to go ahead 14-10. On the next ball, Madison was caught watching as the ball hit the floor untouched, and the Milbank Area Lady Bulldogs secured the match with the 15-10 victory.

Mielitz led the locals with 15 kills on 46-56 hitting and 21 digs. Rick followed with 12 kills on 14-17 hitting, one ace on 12-13 serving and two blocks. Hoeke went 80-80 setting with 30 assists and 16 digs while Mackayla Schuelke was 31-31 setting with two assists and two aces on 12-13 serving. Rachelle Gabriel had two blocks, and Katie Cannedy added 16 digs.

Milbank Area will host Sisseton Thursday, October 15, for a NEC conference showdown. The C team and junior varsity matches are set for 6 p.m. with varsity to follow.

Junior Varsity – Milbank Area suffered a 2-0 loss to Madison with identical scores of 25-18, 25-18. Gabbi Cummins led the locals with five kills on 16-19 hitting and seven digs. Jaecy Engebretson followed with three kills on 8-8 hitting, 8-8 serving, 15-15 setting with four assists and seven digs. Alexis Folk belted out three kills on 4-4 hitting. Maty Lightfield went 26-29 setting with eight assists and 10-10 serving with one ace. Also contributing for Milbank Area were Katie Wollschlager, 4-4 serving with one ace, and Tonya Meyer, four digs.