Notre Dame defeats Dexter in five set thiller

The Notre Dame Lady Bulldogs escaped Wednesday evening with a five set 21-25, 25-14, 23-25,25-16 and 15-10 win over the upset minded Dexter Bearcats at the Bearcat Event Center. In a possible Class 3 District 1 preview Dexter coach Haylee Orf said she told her team after the match that they showed they could compete with teams like Notre Dame.

Orf and the Bearcats are hoping for another shot at Notre Dame Monday evening in the district semi-final round. However to earn that shot they must first get by the Doniphan Donnetts tomorrow (Thursday) evening and Orf is not looking past them.

“We have got to show up ready tomorrow,” said Orf. “I think this was great for our esteem and our confidence and putting the belief in them. It's a matter of everybody showing up focused and locked in and being ready to play your best game and not letting the mental battles get in your way in the midst of chaos. I couldn't be more proud of those girls, that is a big big progress from when we played them (Notre Dame) this summer.”

Dexter built a 15-9 lead in the first set forcing Notre Dame to take a time out. Following the timeout the Bulldogs went on a 3-0 run to cut the lead to 15-12. After a score by the Bearcats, Notre Dame went on another 4-0 run to tie the game at 16.

A 3-0 run by the Bearcats stretched the lead to 19-16. A block by Notre Dame's Courtney Tatnm followed by an ace from Tatnm narrowed the lead to 19-18. Notre Dame took another timeout after Dexter extended the lead to 22-19. Following the timeout Dexter was able to finish the game winning 25-21.

Notre Dame turned up the pressure in game two racing out to a 9-2 lead. Dexter rallied getting as close as 12-8 before the Bulldogs pulled away winning game two 25-14.

Dexter faced adversity early in game three when senior Brooke Lasater had to leave the game due to an injury. She would miss the rest of game three but return for games four and five.

“Brooke our libero went down at a tough moment and we had her out for 20 minutes,” said Orf. “She is not going to stop playing unless she just has to. I was proud of her for getting back out there.”

The teams battled evenly in the early part of game three. With the score knotted at 14, the Bulldogs went on a 5-2 run to extend the lead to 19-16. Orf took a timeout to gather her team. Following the timeout Dexter embarked on a 7-2 run cutting the lead to 22-21, forcing Notre Dame to take a timeout. After the timeout Dexter completed the comeback winning 25-23.

The Bearcats went point for point with Notre Dame in game four and took a 9-8 lead. A kill by Kate Nichols extended the lead to 10-8. A kill by Notre Dame's Kate Rubel tied the game again and Dexter's Elizabeth Bolin answered with a kill of her own. After the Bulldogs tied the game at 10, another kill by Nichols gave the lead back to Dexter. With the scored tied at 13, Notre Dame took control and ran to a 19-14 lead. A timeout by Orf could not stop the momentum and the Bulldogs won 25-16.

Both teams exchanged a flurry of points to start game five. Notre Dame took a 7-5 lead and from this point Dexter was unable to get any closer. Notre Dame held on for a 15-10 win to finish the match

“From the get go we started the season with four very tough losses, all to great competitive teams,” said Orf looking ahead to district play. “They (Dexter) were down. We had many battles this season to some great teams where we battled and we fell with the short end of the stick, came out with the loss. That's hard for girls to keep battling and keep going through adversity like we have. But that has been the message is when it really matters in the end finish with our best volleyball. We know we can compete with the teams in this district. They are great teams but my team is pretty great too.”

Lasater recorded 18 digs, Nichols had 15 kills, Macie Templemire had 9 kills and Orf said several others contributed four ,five or six kills. She said this showed improvement in the Bearcat attack.

“We have gotten so much better in spacing out our attacks,” said Orf. “And trying always to turn our outer systems into some sort of attack of the third contact, making sure we are trying to set up that ball and people's feet are ready to be able to continue the quick offense at all times.”

Dexter will begin district play tomorrow night against Doniphan in Dexter. The winner will face top seeded Notre Dame at the Bearcat Event Center Monday evening. Kennett will face Fredericktown in the other quarter final matchup. The winner of that match will face two seed Saxony Lutheran on Monday evening.