The Beaver Dam High girls volleyball squad is playoff bound.
The Lady D-Backs clinched a postseason berth in the 1A South-East Regional this weekend by defeating Liberty Baptist, 3-1, at home last Tuesday.
Beaver Dam, the fourth seed from the South, will face East No. 1 seed Wells in a first-round matchup Friday at 6:20 p.m. at Pahranagat Valley High School in Alamo. Wells went 10-0 in league play and is 19-8 overall.
The winner of Friday’s match will advance to the semifinal round on Saturday at 11:45 a.m. where they will play the winner of Friday’s Pahranagat Valley vs. Eureka match.
“I’m so happy for these girls,” BDHS head coach Charyn McDonnell said. “We’ve come a long ways since last year. We have three girls who hadn’t played varsity before this year. They’ve all stepped up and played well. We’re still a work in progress, but I’m proud of all of them.”
After clinching a playoff spot, the Lady D-Backs closed out the regular season by hosting top-seeded and South League champion Green Valley Christian last Friday.
Trailing 12-7 in the first set, Nancy Lopez served eight consecutive points to give Beaver Dam a 15-12 lead. Elizabeth Jensen, Christina Leach and Lopez had consecutive kills during the run.
Green Valley Christian regrouped to back in front 19-16, but kills by Jensen and Lopez, plus a service ace by Jensen pulled the Lady D-Backs even at 19.
With the scored tied at 23-all, a net serve by GVC and a long return gave Beaver Dam the win, 25-23.
Beaver Dam continued to play well in the second set as Shyanne Pierce served four aces and Marissa Horner three to give the Lady D-Backs a 24-19 advantage at set point. GVC bounced back, however, to score the last seven points and take the set 26-24.
GVC led 22-18 in the third set before the Lady D-Backs rallied and pulled even at 22-all on a kill by Jensen. The Lady D-Backs led 25-24 and served for set point, but GVC came back to score three straight points to win 27-25.
Beaver Dam fell behind early in the fourth set and trailed 21-14 before Horner served four consecutive points to get the Lady D-Backs within 21-18. That was as close as they would get as Green Valley Christian won the last four points to take the set 25-18 and the match, 3-1.
“We showed we can play with the top teams,” McDonnell said. “We just have to learn how to finish.”
Beaver Dam heads into the playoffs at 13-8 overall after going 4-3 in league play and finishing in fourth place behind Green Valley Christian, Pahranagat Valley and Beatty in the 1-A South League.
