BAKER VOLLEYBALL: Bulldogs fall to Vale in four sets

Published 4:49 pm Monday, October 21, 2024

The Baker volleyball team was back in its home gym for a nonleague match against Vale Monday evening, Oct. 21, but the Bulldogs couldn’t complete a season sweep of the Vikings.

Baker swept Vale in a tournament at Sheridan on Oct. 5. The Vikings evened the season series with a four-set win, 25-23, 14-25, 25-21, 25-20.

Vale, which has won 11 of its last 12 matches, improved to 14-10 overall. The Vikings are 8-2 in the Eastern Oregon League.

Baker is 7-14 overall and 2-3 in the Greater Oregon League.

First set

Baker struggled for much of the set after scoring the first two points and leading 4-2. After Vale scored six of the next seven points, Ashlyn Dalton’s ace serve tied it at 11. Sydney Penning had a kill to tie the score at 12, and Baker then had a brief lead at 13-12.

Vale then scored seven of the next eight points to take its biggest lead, 19-14. trailing by as many as five points, at 19-14. The Bulldogs rallied to tie it at 20 on Sofia Hanson’s ace serve, and the Bulldogs then took their last lead, 22-21 lead. Vale scored three straight points. Baker fought off the first set point, but Vale won the set 25-23.

Second set

Baker took control thanks to Lexi Rupel’s serve run, which included five aces, as Baker broke a 12-12 tie to lead 19-12. Vale had led 8-4 but Baker scored six straight points to go up 10-8. After three consecutive points by the Vikings, Baker tied it at 12, leading to Rupel’s stellar serving.

Baker closed out the set 25-14.

Third set

Baker led 3-0 and 8-4, but Vale scored six points in a row to take the lead for good. Baker struggled with Vale’s serves throughout. Baker rallied, though, getting as close as 24-21 after trailing 22-14, but the Vikings closed out the set, 25-21.

Fourth set

After a competitive start, with ties at 3, 5, 7 and 8, Vale scored five straight points and never trailed again. It was the first of the Vikings’ two 5-0 runs, the second pushing their lead to 18-10 and prompting a Baker timeout. The Bulldogs got no closer than 19-14, and Vale took the match in four sets with a 25-20.

Baker lost the JV match, 2 sets to 1.

Up next

Baker plays host to Class 3A power Burns on Tuesday, Oct. 22, at 5:30 p.m. The Hilanders are 24-4, 10-0 in the Eastern Oregon League (included two sweeps of Vale) and ranked sixth. Burns swept Baker in a nonleague match on Sept. 7 at Burns, 25-21, 25-23, 25-11.