The Becker Bulldog girls volleyball team’s season came to an abrupt end at the hands of the Bemidji Lumberjacks Wednesday evening.
The Lady Bulldogs — seeded #3 in the Section 8AAA semifinals — lost in three straight sets, 11-25, 8-25 and 23-25 to the #2-seeded Lumberjacks.
“The Bemidji Lumberjacks were a strong team all around and we let our nerves get the best of us,” said Head Coach Kristina Sloan.
In the first set of the night, Becker was up 10-9 when Bemidji’s Heather Olson stepped up to the service line.
By the time Olson was relieved from the line, Bemidji had an insurmountable, 23-10 lead.
Bemidji finished off the set 25-10 before continuing its dominance in set two and completed the sweep in a closely-fought set three.
Despite being down two sets to none, Sloan’s girls were not showing defeat as set three started. Becker went on a 4-0 run to start, but Bemidji kept close. The Lumberjacks tied it at 9-9 and the two teams exchanged leads from there, but it was Bemidji who made the final run to secure the sweep with a 25-23 win.
Bemidji (17-11) goes on to play #1-seeded Moorhead (24-4) Saturday in Alexandria.
Sam Angell led the Bulldogs with seven kills, two aces and 12 digs. Kalie Jergens chipped in 10 kills, one ace and had nine digs. Kalley Anderson contributed with four kills and two blocks.
Brinley Zoller added five set assists, Alexa Hanowski had 15 digs, Daisy Kent had seven set assists and Jessica Gruber had one kill.
Becker finished the season with a 24-5 record.
“We got farther than they had in prior years,” said Sloan. “I couldn’t be more proud of them. I can’t wait for next year and to have the off season to work with the younger players coming up.”
Becker 3, Detroit Lakes 1
The Bulldogs took on the Lakers at home Saturday in the second round of the Section 8AAA volleyball playoffs (Becker had a first round bye).
The two teams looked fresh and ready to go and Becker proved why they deserved a higher seed and home court advantage when they steamrolled the Lakers in the first set, 25-14.
Detroit Lakes could have easily folded in a hostile and fired up gymnasium, but they showed increasing confidence gained in the final month of the season by punching right back to even the match with a convincing 25-18 in the second set.
Becker, however, took the third set in familiar fashion, using an 11-4 run from a tie at nine to hold on for an eight-point win at 25-17 to go up two sets to one.
Set four was a seesaw affair until crunch time with ties at nine and 18. The Lakers led 15-14 at one point, but Becker pushed to 20-18, forcing a Laker timeout.
The experienced Bulldogs scored when it counted most to seal the match with a 25-20 victory.
Kalie Jergens had a game-high 16 kills to lead Becker.
