After starting league play with a 3-1 win on the road in Rogue River this past Thursday evening, coach Vanessa Nidiffer and her varsity girls took the court Tuesday evening, hosting the St. Mary’s Lady Crusaders.
With both teams coming into the contest with a 1-0 record, establishing a lead early was important to building confidence to take control of the game. A high energy Bruin girls team built an early lead off of hustle and determination, to take a 10-3 lead.
The Lady Crusaders would rally back to even the score at 10-10, before both teams would exchange leads through the middle of the first set staying tied at 19-19 and 21-21, before St. Mary’s took the lead and the 22-25 win.
In the second set, St. Mary’s kept the Bruin girls off-balance, moving the ball all around the court and winning the lucky bounces to establish an early 6-10 lead. The Bruin girls would battle back through the middle of the second set, but the Lady Crusaders early lead was to big to overcome, taking the second set win 12-25.
St. Mary’s took early control of the third set, and the Bruin girls responded, battling back to 7-10 early in the set, fighting to stay in the game, before St. the Lady Crusaders finished the set 13-25, to take the 3-0 match win.
“I was really pleased with how the team played the 1st set. They were scrappy and played at a high level.” coach Nidiffer said, “We just weren’t able to sustain it through the whole match unfortunately.”
The Bruin girls are on the road Thursday, traveling to Grants Pass to challenge the 1-1 North Valley Lady Knights, who are coming off a loss to Lakeview.
