Lady Indians gain redemption against Lady Tigers

By MATT KING\Daily Journal Sports Writer

IRONTON - Revenge was on the minds of the Bismarck Lady Indians when they traveled to Arcadia Valley on Tuesday night, and they showed the poise and determination to achieve an important measure of it.

Bismarck saw its hopes for an undefeated conference season derailed in a home loss to the Lady Tigers on September 15, but evened the season series and regained a share of first place in the MAAA Small-School standings with a 25-16, 25-20 victory.

The match started with both teams struggling to set up their offenses, but quickly turned into an entertaining battle highlighted by sprawling digs and lengthy rallies. Over the course of the action, Bismarck (17-5) established a potent attack and capitalized on several serve receiving errors by the Lady Tigers.

"It was our own stupid mistakes that cost us at home the first time we played them, and we wanted to come out here and rectify those," said Bismarck coach Paula AuBuchon. "When our defense steps up, we have the hitting power to put with it."

The Lady Indians scored first and extended the early lead on a stuff-block by Stephanie Politte, but Arcadia Valley (17-5-1) countered to grab its first lead when Megan Reichert hit the sideline with a spike. A hard diagonal kill by Leah Williams put the Lady Tigers up 6-3.

Arcadia Valley gave up four straight points by hitting the ball into the net on either a serve or attack, and it proved to be the turning point of game one. Chelsey Politte put Bismarck back on top with a kill that spun off of the net, and Kelly Williams served four aces over the next seven points to create a 17-9 margin.

Kassie Walker popped a spike through a double-block to get the Lady Tigers back on track, but Bismarck answered with five great digs on the next point. Lacey McCaulla blistered a kill down the line to make it 20-14, and Bismarck pulled away to win the game.

Arcadia Valley used a strong kill and a quick scoring redirection by Leah Williams, along with two missed receptions by the Lady Indians to broke ahead 6-2 in game two, but the Lady Indians put together a comeback surge. A stuff-block by Leah Kniess and more passing troubles for the home team leveled the score at 10-10.

Kylee Stocum sent a deflected tip to the floor and Williams followed with an ace that clipped the net to give the Lady Tigers another lead at 17-14, but they could not hold on to it.

Chelsey Politte tied the game at 20-20 when her most powerful kill of the evening sliced through the front row. Arcadia Valley misfired on attacks during the ensuing two points, and Kelly Williams capped another solid serving streak of five straight points with an ace to end the contest.

"We made too many mistakes tonight," said Arcadia Valley coach Laura Williams. "We hit everything right where they were, and they dug us well."

McCaulla racked up nine kills and Chelsey Politte made eight for Bismarck. Whittni Swanguarim collected 12 assists and seven digs, while Williams added six assists and served five aces. Andrea Mecey chipped in on defense with six digs and Heather Gamblin had five.

Leah Williams posted team highs of six kills and six points for the Lady Tigers. Walker added five kills and 10 digs, and Reichert notched four kills and 11 digs. Sara Wadlow dished out eight assists, Stocum added five, and Megan Tripp came up with 10 digs.

Bismarck and Arcadia Valley are currently tied at 6-1 in conference play, and both must still play another match against Valle, which is 4-2. Bismarck will host the Lady Warriors on Thursday, while Arcadia Valley entertains West County.