Gentry wins conference victory against Decatur, 3 sets to 1

Photo by Mike Eckels In an epic battle between two teams, Decatur’s Talor Thompson (8) and Gentry’s Madison Ward (9) fight to tip the ball past the other during the Bulldog-Pioneer volleyball match in the gym at Gentry High School Sept. 1. Thompson got the advantage this time but the ball went in favor of Ward two plays later.
Photo by Mike Eckels In an epic battle between two teams, Decatur’s Talor Thompson (8) and Gentry’s Madison Ward (9) fight to tip the ball past the other during the Bulldog-Pioneer volleyball match in the gym at Gentry High School Sept. 1. Thompson got the advantage this time but the ball went in favor of Ward two plays later.

— The gym erupted with shouts of joy as the Decatur junior-high B team won its first match since the team's formation one month ago.

The Gentry Pioneers played host to the Decatur Bulldogs in volleyball in a three-team series at the gym at Gentry High School on Sept. 1.

The Decatur junior-high B team made quick work of its Gentry equal, taking the match in two sets, 25-15 and a close 26-24.

"I'm proud of these girls," said Jessica Castagna, Decatur volleyball coach. "They played hard and deserve this win."

The Decatur-Gentry senior high match was just as intense as the junior-high B game an hour earlier.

Decatur took a slight advantage over the Pioneers in the first set -- by as much as seven points midway through -- but Gentry would not give up so easily and the team began a rally, pushing the score to a 20-all tie. The Bulldogs prevailed and took the set, 25-22.

Decatur's first-set victory was short lived because Gentry made up ground and took the next two sets, 25-17 and 25-21.

In the final set of the best of five series, the steam that drove the Bulldogs early in the match ran out and the Pioneers took the final set 25-11 and picked up a conference win for Gentry.

The Gentry Pioneers senior girls volleyball team is now 1 and 2 in conference play with an overall record of 2 and 2, while the Decatur Bulldogs are 1 and 2 in conference play with a 1 and 4 overall record.

In other Gentry-Decatur action, the Bulldog junior-high team dropped both sets to the Pioneers, 25-17 and 25-7.

Sports on 09/07/2016