LADY BULLDOGS SWEEP OPENER

FAYETTEVILLE -- Another tough test awaited Fayetteville on the volleyball court Friday in its regular season home opener at Bulldog Gymnasium. Just one day after a tough five-set loss on the road, the Lady Bulldogs bounced back with their strongest effort of the week. Fayetteville used big stops at the net and in the back line on defense to set the tone Friday and put together big rallies in all three games against visiting Tulsa Bishop Kelley. The result was a convincing, 25-16, 25-18, 25-12 victory against the Comets in a match that turned in Fayetteville's favor for good midway through game two. "We've made a lot of progress this week," Fayetteville coach Jessica Phelan said. "We lost a tough one on the road to Ozark (Mo.) on (Thursday) night, and I thought the girls came back and responded and played really clean volleyball. "It wasn't perfect, necessarily, at times, but we got better each night out and that's what you want to see going into the 7A-West schedule." Fayetteville (2-1) was tied with Bishop Kelley 15-all in game two when a close call at the net was ruled in the Lady'Dogs' favor. The next six points went Fayetteville's way as momentum for the rest of the match clearly turned on the home side. Bishop Kelley (4-2) expected a difficult task in facing Fayetteville, but coach Jerri Berna hoped for a better response following the Lady'Dogs' rally in the second set. "You can't go out there and respond or say anything about any call, but you've got to keep playing," Berna said. "But (Fayetteville) is a very solid team. We didn't come over here expecting to get an easy win. We knew it would be a challenge, and that's why we played them." The Fayetteville defense set the tone with Olivia Wales leading the Lady'Dogs with 15 digs and Faith Waitsman strong at the net with six blocks. "Any time you have strong block up there, it's going to test the hitters," Phelan said. "I also thought our defense behind the net was strong, so that was good to see to." Haley Warner led Fayetteville on the attack with 13 kills. Hadley Spresser added seven kills and Ella May Powell had 25 assists. The Lady Bulldogs return to the court Thursday at Rogers Heritage to open up 7A-West Conference play.

LADY BULLDOGS SWEEP OPENER

Photo Credit: Fayetteville Athletics

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