The Lady Bulldogs fell to the Royals 1-3 in their first home match on Tuesday night.
After losing the first set 8-25, the Bulldogs made it a closer match-up in the second set, only dropping 18-25.
"All right guys. Shake it off. Just play," said Sam Haugen, coming out of the huddle before the third set.
Haugen's encouragement paid off. Sam Angell lead a rally with a strong serving streak that tied the game up 18-18 and then pulled the Bulldogs ahead 21-18. Becker won the set 25-23.
The fourth set kept the score neck and neck, but the Royals eventually pulled ahead, beating Becker 19-25.
Sam Angell had 10 kills, 12 digs and one block. Kalie Jergens had 13 kills, nine digs and one block. Whitney Raygor had 27 assists and two aces. Alexa Hanowski had 15 digs.
"We battled through it. The girls really played well," said Head Coach Taylor Essen. "We lost a lot of seniors from last year, but the girls really stepped it up. Rogers is a strong team. I'm really proud of their first match."
Some of the goals Coach Essen has for the team this season are to improve passing, be strong in the playoffs, and be one of the top three teams in the conference.
The next home Varsity Volleyball match is September 2 against Princeton at 7:15 p.m.
