By Stephanie Zwick
Thursday night’s match in Kit Carson was dominated by the Lady Badgers. In the first set, Tinsley Malcom and Braelyn Malcom did tremendous work at the net, while kills came from Sophia McCormick, Tinsley Malcom, Molly Wienstroer, and Maddie Witt. Chloe Stone came up with huge saves to keep the volleys alive, and the Badgers maintained well-timed passing and setting to create scoring opportunities. The Lady Badgers won the opening set, 25-20.
Set 2 continued to show the Badgers’ dominance. Witt finished with six kills and two ace serves, while Tinsley Malcom added three kills and a block-tip kill. Stone continued to support the Badgers with another pancake save that kept the volley alive and led to a point. Emma Holforty came in and provided a kill of her own, and Sophia McCormick added two more kills as the Badgers took the second set, 25-17.
Set 3 was more of a challenge as Kit Carson tried to build momentum, but Witt again led the Badgers with six more kills and three aces. Braelyn Malcom added an ace, and Tinsley Malcom added two kills. Strong volley action from both teams kept the set competitive, but the Badgers closed it out, 25-21, to complete the sweep.
The victory marked the Badgers’ third win in a row to start the season. This hasn’t been done since 2019 when the Badgers started their season off with a 3-0 record.
The volleyball action in Wray told a different story. The Badgers struggled to find the snap they needed on their spikes to generate kills, but they still pieced together strong moments. Witt, Wienstroer, Braelyn Malcom, and Tinsley Malcom all recorded kills, while the team added big blocks and Stone delivered another pancake save. Wray proved to be a tough matchup and took the first set, 25-17.
In the second set, the Badgers stayed closer thanks to kills from McCormick, Witt, and Tinsley Malcom. Mistakes by Wray also gave the Badgers opportunities, but Wray still managed to eke out the set, 25-20.
Set 3 had the Badgers coming out on fire as they quickly jumped ahead, 5-0. Witt put down a strong kill, and Tinsley Malcom followed with a huge block. The Badgers’ serves were in, leading to good volley action, and Braelyn Malcom added another kill. However, miscommunications allowed Wray to rally and tie the score at 19-19. Tinsley Malcom quickly put the Badgers back ahead, but things began to slip from there. Missed angles on passes led to sets that were not where they needed to be for the hitters to find the strike zone. Despite those hiccups, the Badgers stayed tough and forced Wray to play longer, but Wray held on for the 26-24 win.
The loss was the Badgers’ first of the season. The Lady Badgers still have a lot to be proud of from this match up with Wray.