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2 Gatorade games and the Woodland TournamentPosted Saturday, August 29, 2009, at 3:51 PM
First let me say this, I am not a trained sports writer. I just click around with this blog for fun and the love of local high school sports. So, if poor grammar and missed spelled words ruin your blogging experience....please move on to the next blog.
We loaded up our old van with a couple cases of Gatorade and headed off to Zalma and Leopold for some pre-season volleyball action this week. Zalma opened their gym doors Tuesday night. Their Gatorade game is always fun. The volleyball girls play a team made up of teachers each year and you can count on some good natured ribbing going on between the Lady Bulldogs and their opponents. Deyght Ford, who plays for the teachers, really puts on a "show," hooping and holllern' and cutting up with the girls. It was also nice to see a couple of former Zalma students take the court with the teachers. (Good job Brandi, who is now a Zalma teacher and Cody, who spared the Bulldogs no mercy.) It was good to see Alicia Hendrix back on the court with the Bulldogs. She has played with Zalma in the past. Lesta Newberry, Torie VanGennip and Lori VanGennip looked sharp. The varsity Bulldogs are a young team, no seniors I was told. I was also informed that 3 foreign exchange students, from three different countries, make up part of the JV at Zalma. I couldn't get the details straight about which countries the girls are from, but what a great experience this season should be for all the girls on the volleyball team at Zalma. I was also glad to see a lot of spectators turn out at Zalma. The gym was full of fans and the "Gatorade table" was running over.....Good Luck Zalma Bulldogs!!! Thursday night Leopold held their Gatorade game, also to a fairly good size crowd. At Leopold the teams separate and play each other. The first teams to take the court were made mostly of JV players. They played 2 sets and both were very lively and quick. Then the varsity took the court and played 2 exhibition sets. As I mentioned in my previous blog, Leopold has some very talented returning players on their varsity team this year. The newcomers are no slouches either. The Wildcats, in my opinion, are sharp at the net, quick on the back row and do a good job of serving. If they play this coming season with as much "gusto" as the played with Thursday night, their fans are in for a GREAT season. Good Luck Lady Wildcats!!! And I can't forget the Leopold Sprit Leaders. They were out in full force Thursday night too. Yelling and cheering for the Lady Wildcats as if they were playing in a championship game. Both Zalma and Leopold open their volleyball seasons Tuesday Sept. 1st. at the Woodland Tournament. Leopold, who is seeded first, plays Greenville (my alma mater) who is seeded eighth, at 5 p.m. Fifth seeded Zalma plays fourth seeded Meadow Heights at 8p.m. Other teams playing that night include second seeded Woodland, third seeded Advance, sixth seeded Oak Ridge and seventh seeded Saxony Lutheran. Tournament action should continue on Thursday night, and championship play should be on Friday night. Comments Showing comments in chronological order [Show most recent comments first] |
Marcia, and her husband Tony, are avid Leopold Wildcat fans. Win, lose or draw, volleyball, baseball, softball, basketball, they're in the stands, cheering for the mighty Blue and White.
Living in southern Bollinger County, they also enjoy watching the Zalma Bulldogs. The only thing that takes them away from local school sports is farming. That, thank heavens, usually starts about the time the school year is ending in the spring, so there is little conflict. They live in the Glennon community, with their dog Jay Jay, and their cat Miss Addie Lee. Hot topics One Last Volleyball Blog(7 ~ 2:11 PM, Dec 17)
Leopold Wins Class 1 District 3 Volleyball at Advance
Mississippi Valley Conference Volleyball Tourn. Final
Scott City, Meadow Heights and Oran
Leopold Wins Three on the Road
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Thanks for your insight into Zalma & Leopold volleyball! I look forward to reading your future chronicles of the Bulldog and Wildcat seasons.
Fun to read about the players and the teachers. Thank you for doing it! Glad you haven't been deterred from blogging. (Hope I spelled everything right...or should that be correctly)
i love the lhs spirit leaders! i'll miss the ones from last season but i'm excited to see what the classes of '10 & '11 will bring to the games! no one can imitate us!!!
Good blog!
Wow, I just stumbled upon this blog for the first time and my name was mentioned! Thanks for the acknowledgment, Marcia! Keep up the good work, fellow T Highway neighbor!
Were you at the Zalma game tonight against Meadow Heights? Didn't see ya! It was a really good game! Zalma came out very disorganized and played terrible the first set (I think it was just first-game jitters) and lost 14-25, but thanks to some strong serving from freshman Lorie VanGennip (#14), the Lady Bulldogs held a commanding 16-1 run in the second set before wiping out the Lady Panthers in a decisive 25-11 victory. The third set was a little more evenly matched but the Lady Bulldogs started out strong and never looked back, winning 25-17. It was the one and only upset of the evening!!
To help you with the scores, Marcia, we walked in just at the conclusion of the Woodland-Saxony Lutheran game during the second set which Woodland won 25-19 (not sure of how the first set went). I saw on the KC Hall fence in town where Leopold (No. 1) defeated Greenville (No. 8) 25-8, 25-13. Advance (No. 3) really impressed me tonight. They have an excellent setter in Sara Mace (#6) and some strong hitters in Taylor Eggiman (#21, I think) and Hannah Barr (#26); their defense could use some sharpening up, though. Advance easily knocked off Oak Ridge (No. 6) 25-6, 25-17 I do believe were the scores.
I forgot to grab a pamphlet tonight, Marcia, so you may have to help me with times, but tournament play continues Thursday afternoon beginning with No. 8 Greenville taking on No. 4 Meadow Heights followed by No. 6 Oak Ridge facing No. 7 Saxony Lutheran in the consolation bracket. The winners of these two games will face each other Friday evening for the Consolation title. In the championship bracket, No. 1 Leopold faces No. 5 Zalma followed by No. 2 Woodland taking on No. 3 Advance. The winners of these two games will play for the Championship (scheduled to be the last game Friday night) before the losing teams of these two games face each other for the third-place plaque.
Hope this has helped some, Marcia! Keep up the blogging with Leopold and I'll try to contribute as much as I can for Zalma! :)
We were at the tournament all nigth and loved every minute of it. Correct me if I'm wrong semocrat08, I beleive I saw you setting on the sidelines with the Lady Bulldogs. I was so PROUD of them Tuesday night!! Thanks for posting info about the game on the blog. You were right about Zalmas first set, it was a totally different ballgame the second and third set. Zalma got motivated, and took off. We're looking forward to the Leopold/Zalma match Thursday night, we come out winners either way!!
Sorry I didn't see you, Marcia, but yes, you are right! I was sitting on the bench with the team keeping books. (I don't like sitting up at the table with the clock keeper on the stage - it makes me look too official, ha.) The coaches also wanted me to sit there and keep them in line in case we were out of rotation so I could tell them. I, too, am looking forward to the game Thursday night as well. If Zalma plays up to par and plays better than they did last night, it could be a really good game. I think a big part of our girls' problem is their mentality. When they go out on the court against harder teams like Leopold and Bell City (and teams from St. Louis when we play them in the upcoming SEMO Classics, which I hope you blog about!!!), they just seem to build this wall up in their heads that they know they are going to lose so they don't give it their all. It's not just these girls but it's always been that way for as long as I can remember. I also go to the girls' practice (the coach likes to have me come in and hit and block the girls so it will help them improve on their defense), which is where I am about to head right now, but just wanted to check in and see the latest comments on here. See ya Thursday, Marcia!
The Lady Bulldogs former coach Katrina said the same thing, that up against certain teams, the girls had themselves beat before they ever left the parking lot at Zalma. They shouldn't be that way!! They should never feel intimidated. Each set begins with the score at 0. Each team takes off from the same starting point. Zalma should take the court with the ideas of first playing their best, (when you play your best, there is no reason to second guess anything about a game) second playing SMART (smart wins more games than strength) and third controlling frustration. (Frustration fuels sloppiness.) 9 times out of 10, seems to me, teams that come from behind use staying calm and focused to help achieve their goal. And lets not forget motivation and determination. In their second set last night, I saw motivation and determnination kick in, that helped the Lady Bulldogs get the Panthers down 16/1 real quick. I'm glad to see you helping out with the team. See you Thursday.