DENVER – There was no way the Bulldogs were going down without a fight.
Trailing two sets to one against No. 9 Haxtun in the opening round of the 1A state tournament, head coach Lacey Murphy called for time with her team trailing 11-6 in the fourth set.
Suddenly, like they had in some of their tight contests from the regular season, Dove Creek flipped a switch. A pair of mini-rallies chipped away at the deficit while the Bulldog contingent inside the Denver Coliseum got louder with each point.
Dove Creek (23-3) knotted the score at 18, then never looked back. Behind the powerful hitting of junior Ralynn Hickman, the Bulldogs rattled off 22 of the next 33 points to blow past Haxtun in the fourth and fifth sets, and into the second round of the tournament.
The No. 8 Bulldogs 18-25, 25-18, 22-25, 25-22, 15-7 win headlined an exciting opening salvo to the tournament. Strong net play from seniors Kylie Gatlin and Halee Beanland joined a flurry of activity from the back line of sophomore Hadley Hatfield and Jenessa Barragan as the ‘Dogs kept plenty of points alive in their late-stage rally.
“We had a lot of nerves to get out,” said Murphy of her team’s frenetic opening match, “Haxtun was a tough team, but our new players stayed in it (in their first state appearance).”
Hickman proved to be a huge catalyst down the stretch, overpowering Haxtun with a kill early in the fifth set to establish the tone with a 3-1 lead. Dove Creek would extend the lead to five after Kylee Gatlin took a feed from her sister Kalie to punch one down the middle of the court.
From there, back-to-back kills and a block built the lead to 11-5, and Dove Creek could sense a third straight year with a win in the opening match at state.
“The girls corrected what they needed to and fought to the end,” added Murphy, after another cross court Hickman kill all-but-sealed the win.
Dove Creek advanced to take on the No. 1 team and defending state champion Merino Rams (24-1) in the second round and fell 25-12, 25-23, 25-15 to drop into the contenders bracket.
The Bulldogs face No. 10 Cheraw at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 10 with each match now becoming a single elimination battle. The winner will face either No. 5 Otis or No. 6 Idalia in the second round of the contenders bracket later that afternoon. Dove Creek will need to win three matches in a row in order to make the state semifinals on Saturday afternoon.
