Members of the Broadus and Ekalaka volleyball teams watch the game from the bench, each player waiting for her turn to get in on the action.
Zeason Schaffer and Abi Krantz block an Ekalaka opponent's spike during home Volleyball action, last Saturday.
The Broadus Volleyball team played in two matches over the past week, last Tuesday at St. Labre, and on Saturday at home, hosting Ekalaka.
With a fresh win against Jordan on September 20th providing motivation, the Broadus ladies made the trip over Home Creek Divide and across the Tongue River to St. Labre. Unfortunately for the Lady Hawks, the tall Class B players of St. Labre would have something to say about Broadus' newfound confidence.
Coach Gordon Archer commented on the match: "I'll give the St. Labre girls a lot of credit – they were really able to see the floor well and tip the ball into places we weren't able to defend. One benefit of seeing how they played is that we changed up our defensive scheme, which benefited us later in that match, and also helped with our defense against Ekalaka."
Broadus would fall in three games to St. Labre, 16-25, 20-25, and 13-25.
Following a short week of practices, Broadus hosted Ekalaka. The Lady Bulldogs are currently ranked #1 in the conference, while Broadus is ranked 5th out of 6 teams. Coach Archer knew Broadus would have a mighty challenge on their hands, and the team seemed to take the pressure hard at the start of the match, coming out tentatively and falling behind.
Archer commented: "Towards the end of the first game, we decided we could play with Ekalaka, and we started to play a lot more competitively."
Broadus would fall 12-25 in the first game, and 18-25 in the second game.
A scary event occurred during the second game, as Broadus players Jadyn Traub and Zeason Schaffer collided on the court. Coach Archer was worried that Zeason may have had a concussion, so she was pulled for the rest of the match, though she was motivated to return (she has since been cleared to play against Wibaux, on Tuesday). In Zeason's stead, 8th grader Aspen Krantz and 9th grader Lauryn Billing saw a lot of playing time, and both played outstanding volleyball. Aspen went 12 for 12 on serves with 5 aces, and Lauryn went 14 for 17 on serves with 2 aces.
These performances helped Broadus to win handily over Ekalaka in the third game, 25-16. "It was like a light came on in the third game. The girls played some really good volleyball, and I'm proud of how they played. We showed that when we play to our potential, we can play right with Ekalaka."
The fourth game started out well for Broadus, but Ekalaka seemed to come alive midway through the game, eventually winning the game and thus the match, 14-25.
Broadus will face Wibaux on Tuesday (after our press date, if the weather cooperates). Broadus will then go on the road over the weekend, traveling to Ekalaka on Friday, and Terry on Saturday. Terry is currently ranked last in the conference.
Here are the match stats:
https://www.powderriverexaminer.com/home/customer_files/stats/volleyball_stats-17.jpg
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