Lady Bulldogs Edge Culbertson
The Bainville Lady Bulldogs emerged from a tight opening set against the Culbertson Cowgirls with a twopoint victory, then took the next two sets to complete a three-set volleyball sweep.
Bainville won 26-24, 25-16 and 25-12, with Casey Myers leading the attack and Sophie Portra contributing both through serving and setting.
The opening set provided the closest contest of the match. Culbertson pushed the score beyond the usual 25-point finish before Bainville secured the two-point margin needed to win. The Lady Bulldogs followed with a nine-point victory in the second set and closed the match with their largest margin in the third.
Myers recorded 15 kills for Bainville, while Jaylynn Bjorge added five. Portra finished with six aces and 20 assists, helping the Lady Bulldogs score directly on serves and setting up their hitters.
Johnna Ryder contributed to defense and in the setting game, recording 16 digs and nine assists.
For Culbertson, Emma Berwick led the attack with eight kills and added three aces, 10 digs, one assist and one block. Bella Petersen recorded 12 assists and a teamhigh 14 digs, along with two aces, one kill and one block.
The Cowgirls also received double-digit defensive contributions from Stella Fox, who finished with 11 digs, and Ally Simonsen, who added 10. Each recorded two aces and one kill.
Charity Wilbanks contributed three aces and led Culbertson at the net with two blocks. She also recorded six digs, one assist and one kill. Kalia Featherston added seven digs, one ace and one assist.
Culbertson totaled 13 aces among its listed players and had four players reach double figures in digs. Despite those contributions and a close opening set, the Cowgirls could not prevent Bainville from taking the next two sets to secure the sweep.
