Lady Bulldogs win at home, lose on road.

Photo by Mike Eckels Desi Meek (Decatur 1) returns a ball as a Lady Spartan player gets ready to block during the Aug. 22 Decatur-Northwest Arkansas Classical Academy senior girls’ volleyball match at Peterson Gym in Decatur.
Photo by Mike Eckels Desi Meek (Decatur 1) returns a ball as a Lady Spartan player gets ready to block during the Aug. 22 Decatur-Northwest Arkansas Classical Academy senior girls’ volleyball match at Peterson Gym in Decatur.

DECATUR -- The Decatur Lady Bulldogs volleyball team started its third season in a big way with a victory over the Northwest Arkansas Classical Academy Spartans in the opening match at Peterson Gym in Decatur Aug. 22.

During the summer off season, Jessi Castagna, Decatur volleyball head coach, worked on fundamentals with some of her younger players while developing a new game plan for her senior team. In mid-July, Castagna took the team to a three-day volleyball camp in Branson, Mo.

The camp helped the senior members of the team better utilize their skills as players while offering a chance to use those newfound skills in a match setting.

Castagna now has a new assistant coach this season. Tajhe Turner, who also teaches high school science, comes to the program with a few years of coaching experience.

In the Decatur-NWACA contest, the Lady Bulldogs took control of the first set, building a 10-2 lead early. The Spartans fought back, closing to within two points until Decatur hit a streak that ended the first set, 25-19.

The Lady Spartans made a gallant effort to stay with the Lady Bulldogs through the second set, but Decatur shut down NWACA's efforts and ended the set, 25-15.

NWACA took an early lead during the third set, building as much as a 10-point lead, taking Decatur by surprise. Castagna mixed up her game plan a little bit with positive results, and the Lady Bulldogs overtook the Lady Spartans to win the third and final set and the match, 3-0, earning their first victory of the 2017 season.

The junior high team also earned a 2-0 victory in a match played earlier.

The Lady Bulldogs traveled to Eureka Springs Aug. 24, taking on longtime rivals, the Eureka Springs Lady Highlanders, in their first conference match of the season. The Highlanders took full control of the match, winning the first two sets, 25-15 and 25-21, before the Lady Bulldogs came back to take sets three and four, 25-22 and 25-16. The contest came down to a tie breaker set. Eureka Springs managed to move ahead of Decatur in the final set, taking the win, 15-10, and the Lady Highlanders' first conference win of the season.

Decatur opened the first week of the volleyball season with a 1-1 overall record and 0-1 in conference play.

Decatur had two games at home, Aug. 28 and 29, before traveling to Gentry to face the Pioneers in the gym at Gentry High School on Aug. 31. Games begin at 4:30 p.m., with the junior high team playing first, followed by the senior high contest.

Sports on 08/30/2017