Decatur loses two more conference matches on road

Photo by Mike Eckels Decatur’s Talor Thompson (8) flicks the ball past a Tiger player during the Sept. 15 senior girls’ volleyball match between the Decatur Bulldogs and the Prairie Grove Tigers in Prairie Grove. The Tigers took the conference victory in three sets.
Photo by Mike Eckels Decatur’s Talor Thompson (8) flicks the ball past a Tiger player during the Sept. 15 senior girls’ volleyball match between the Decatur Bulldogs and the Prairie Grove Tigers in Prairie Grove. The Tigers took the conference victory in three sets.

PRAIRIE GROVE -- The Decatur Bulldogs senior girls' volleyball team faced a tough week on the road as they traveled to West Fork and Prairie Grove to continue the 2016 conference season.

The Bulldogs traveled to West Fork Sept. 13 to take on the Tigers.

West Fork came out strong and quickly built a lead over Decatur in the first set. The Bulldogs rallied several times during the set, but the Tigers were too strong and took the set, 25 to 12. Decatur continued to struggle against a more aggressive West Fork team, with the Tigers taking sets two and three, 25 to 11 and 25 to 10, to win the match and take home another conference victory.

Decatur next traveled to Prairie Grove Sept. 15 to take on the Tigers in the second conference matchup of the week. The Tigers took control of the first set, earning nine straight points before the Bulldogs received their first point on an out-of-bounds serve by Prairie Grove. Prairie Grove continued to dominate the set, holding Decatur to nine points to take the set, 25 to 9.

The Bulldogs gained momentum in sets two and three, taking the first three points in the opening of the second set. They managed to unravel the Tigers game plan through the first points of the set, causing Prairie Grove to call an early timeout to regroup. This strategy worked as the Tigers began to pound the Bulldogs and eventually took the second set, 25 to 14. In what would be the final set, the Tigers and Bulldogs pounded each other, setting up several long rallies throughout the set. But the Bulldogs came up short once again, losing the set to the Tigers, 25 and 17. Prairie Grove took the match, 3 to 0, and another conference win.

The Decatur senior girls' volleyball team is now 1 and 6 in conference and 1 and 8 overall at the half-way point in the season. The Bulldogs return to Peterson Gym in Decatur to take on the Elkins Elks Sept. 20 and the Shiloh Christian Saints Sept. 22. Game time for both matches is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.

Other Decatur volleyball scores: Junior High b - Prairie Grove over Decatur, 25 to 19 and 25 to 14. Junior High - Prairie Grove over Decatur, 25 to 2 and 25 to 10.

Sports on 09/21/2016