Badger ladies hit a rough patch
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| Allyson Merrifield, a 5'4" senior, helped lead the Badgers through a very tough week. |
| Donel Stippich photo |
On Tuesday, Jailee Foster had four kills and three ace serves and Desirae Minor came through with a whopping 21 digs to help lead the Badgers to a hard-fought 3-2 league win over the Wildcats.
The Badgers won the opening set, 25-19, but the Wildcats clawed back to take set two, 25-17. Set three went to the Badgers, 25-20, but Kellogg punched out their best set of the night in set four, downing the Badgers 25-10.
The Badgers rallied to win the final set of the night 15-9.
Kendra Merritt had three blocks and Savannah Woods 10 assists to add to the Badger effort.
On Thursday, the Badgers traveled to St. Maries to face the Lady 'Jacks, who are no longer in the Intermountain League but playing this year in the Central Idaho League, where they fell, 2-1; 8-25, 19-25, 25-21.
Kendra Merritt contributed four kills and three blocks, Ally Merrifield 10 digs, Minor had 12 digs, Emma Kelly came through with 12 kills and Woods contibuted four kills.
On Saturday, the girls traveled to the Lakeland Tourney, where they fought hard in nearly every set, but couldn't clinch a win.
They opened pool playing going 2-0 against St. Maries, 25-17, 25-21; Clarkston, 25-23, 25-23, and Moscow, 25-21, 25, 21; and in the second round of pool play, they went 2-0 to Priest River, 25-16, 25-20, Lakeland, 25-23, 25-22, and Cheney, 25-6, 25-20.
"We were in every set except one with Cheney," coach Janis Tucker said. "We need to reduce our unforced errors, such as missed serves, net violations and broken plays."
Badger leaders in the tournament were Merrifield, who came through with 14 kills, six ace serves and 12 digs; McKenzie McDonald with 12 kills; Woods with 37 assists and two blocks; Camille Awbrey with eight kills; Kelly with six aces and eight assists; Foster with 14 digs and Jasmine Hill with 11 kills.
In the week ahead, the Badgers face two league opponents and then host the Bonners Ferry Tournament on Saturday. On Tuesday, they travel to Spirit Lake to take on Timberlake, and on Thursday they host the Priest River Spartans, with game time at 6:30 p.m.