TD takes home loss to start CRC action

The Hermiston Bulldogs notched 22 block touches, including six to the floor in Thursday’s four-game Columbia River Conference victory at Kurtz Gym in The Dalles.

“Blocking can change momentum in a game in a huge way,” said Hermiston head coach Elizabeth Fleming. “They were placing the blocks in the correct positions, they were getting block touches to slow down the ball, so that defensively, we could play those up. They were just making smart choices and they were in the right place at the right time and that practice this week really paid off for them.”

Of course, the blocking element was just part of the adjustment the Lady Bulldogs made against The Dalles, which won the opening set by a 25-11 margin.

Fleming said her team responded to the deep ball on both serves and on defense hit to the back of the court.

Hermiston bounced back in the second set with a 25-21 tally to even the match at 1-apiece, so this made an all-important league battle, go down to a best of three.

The Bulldogs jumped ahead in the third set by scores of 11-4, 19-9 and 22-12, but The Dalles inched back to within 23-15 after a 3-1 spurt.

Both teams traded violation calls, and on set point, the Riverhawks had a hit sail long, giving Hermiston a 25-16 victory and a 2-1 lead in the match.

In the fourth set and Hermiston leading 4-3, Eboney Wilson slammed down a kill, Maddy Juul added two consecutive blocks and then TD was whistled for a net violation to make it an 8-3 score.

Kynzee Padilla dropped a kill shot to give the Bulldogs a 12-5 lead, but Jodi Thomasian and Kathryn Bradford hit on two straight kills to draw the Hawks to a 12-7 deficit.

Juul added another block to give Hermiston a 15-8 advantage, and three points later, Hayden Meyers laced home a kill to give the road team a 19-8 lead.

TD inched as close as a 22-11 deficit and Hermiston ended the fourth set on a 3-2 run, capped by a kill from Padilla to end the match, 25-13.

Over the final two sets, TD committed as many as 21 hitting or serving errors and violation calls, giving Hermiston nearly half of its points.

“It was definitely stuff that we weren’t doing. In a way, we were doing. We were having more errors and that is a momentum-killer for sure,” Thomasian said. “We didn’t have as many errors in the first game, like we did all of the rest of those games and it showed for sure, like balls going out on almost every play. I think when the other team brings down their errors and everything, that we need to stay with them instead of realizing that it is going to be an easy win.”

Padilla and Meyers combined for 22 of Hermiston’s 31 kills, Juul had four blocks and Clarissa Nitz totaled 19 assists.

Thomasian and Bailey LeBreton led The Dalles with 10 kills apiece, and Thomasian added two blocks, three digs and two service aces.

Sierra Watson had seven kills and 10 digs, Bradford followed up with six kills, three aces and 11 digs, and Kayla Seibel hit on six kills, two blocks and three digs.

Lindsi Logue picked up 12 assists and Hannah Wallis chipped in 12 assists, 10 digs and an ace.

Fanene emphasized getting more repetitions for her two setters, Logue and Wallis, and developing a flow with their hitters in order to get the offense running smoother.

“The setter-hitter relationship is a big one. If you don’t have that rhythm and that chemistry there, you are going to struggle,” Fanene said. “With two new setters, we are just trying to figure it out game-by-game and point-by-point. We know that we can do it, it’s just a matter of playing with each other and practicing more and getting to know each other’s tendencies. They will get there.”

Fanene and Thomasian both said that there were a lot of positives to take away from Thursday’s match against the state’s No. 17 team in the state.

The Dalles still has nine matches and three tournaments still left on the schedule to get back into playoff contention.

TD (1-4 overall, 0-1 league) heads to Lakeridge for tournament action starting at 9 a.m. Saturday.

“That’s why I love tournaments and I think this is a great time for us to have one on our schedule,” Fanene said. “We really need to get into competition, work out our passing, our hitting and minimizing the number of errors that we give up. It is really important for us to be on the court because you cannot practice that pressure situation in real practice. So, it is just the competition we need, so this tournament is coming at a great time.”