Riley Overby Leads Lady Bulldogs Against Redfield

The Lady Bulldogs met the Lady Pheasants on the volleyball court in Redfield on Thursday, September 22. Milbank took the loss at 2-3 despite their stellar serving. The Lady Bulldogs hit 91 of 96 serving with 12 aces to attain a 95 percent average.  Individually, Rylie Overby led the team at 17 of 17 with two aces. Skyler Skoog made seven of seven; Shaylee Schuchard, three of three; Addisyn Krause, 19 of 20 with three aces; Rachel Schulte, 18 of 19 with one ace; Hallie Schulte, 17 of 18 with three aces; and Averie Engebretson, 10 of 12 with three aces.

Nancy Hoeke, head coach for MHS, said, “In set one, we came out playing our best volleyball of the season. There was such an easy flow to everything we did. Our front-row players were blocking and touching balls like crazy. It frustrated the Redfield hitters that they couldn’t get their offense going.” Milbank had no trouble winning the first set at 25-17. 
 

“There are some unexplainable things in volleyball, though,” Hoeke went on to say. “The change from how we played the first set to the second set is one of them. It was like an entirely different team playing a different level of volleyball.  We couldn’t get much of anything going.” The Lady Bulldogs lost the second set with the score at 15-25.

“Then, in sets three and four,” Hoeke said, “we were back on track and competitive, not quite as good as the first set, but much better than the second.” It was just two evenly-matched teams battling it out. In both the third and fourth sets, we came from behind to tie it up at the end.”  Milbank lost the third set at 25-27, but got the win in the fourth at 25-23.
 

“The girls showed persistence and intensity. It’s was good to see them have that kind of determination and the will to keep going,” Hoeke added.
In the fifth set, Redfield hitters powered up to make eight kills. “We made too many errors which also helped Redfield’s cause and two calls near the end went against us that hurt,” Hoeke recalled. The Lady Bulldogs lost the last set at 10-15, which cost them the match.

On the attack,R. Schulte went 50 of 57 with 14 kills. Claire Snaza, 20 of 21 with nine kills; Skoog, 25 of 32 with seven kills; Overby, 21 of 23 with four kills. Isabella Anderson had two of three with one kill; Casside Seezs 10 of 12 with one kill; Engebretson, 12 of 14 with one kill.  Engebretson also racked up 29 assists.

R. Schulte collected 33 digs to lead Milbank. H. Schulte had 19; Engebretson, 16; Emily Wollschlager, 16; and Addisyn Krause, 12.

Snaza contributed two solo blocks and six assisted. R. Schulte two solo, three assisted. Engebretson, three assisted; Overby and Skoog each added two assisted.”Overall, it was a great match for us” Hoeke added. “I felt we grew as a team and showed again we have what it takes to be at the top. We will continue to work to play at that level more of the time.”

What’s next for the Lady Bulldogs? It’s Parent Night when Milbank hosts Britton-Hecla on Thursday, September 29. The C team match starts at 5 p.m. The JV team plays at 6 p.m. Varsity follows at 7:30 p.m.