COACH ROGERS CELEBRATES 300 WINS

By Trista Oberly, 9 – The Lady Bulldogs are celebrating Coach Ashley Rogers because she won her 300th game as a head coach at the Bulldog’s game against Skyline on Tuesday, October 3.

EHS Principal David Rotert said, “Coach Rogers was a player on the El Dorado Springs State Runner-up volleyball team in 1998 and also a player on the 1999 State Championship team! Coach Rogers had one previous head coaching job before coming back home and continuing the winning tradition of Bulldog Volleyball. Coach Rogers and her players – past and present – are to be commended for achieving this awesome milestone.”

Coach Rogers said, “It means a lot and it just reminds me of how many amazing athletes I’ve coached over the years. It takes a village to do this job and I certainly didn’t accomplish this by myself.”

Let’s talk about how they got there.

Since their game on September 18, the girls have been busy hitting the court.

On Thursday September 21, the team traveled to Clever. They played five sets and won 2 of those. Unfortunately they didn’t pull out the win but the Bulldogs gave them a serious fight. Stat leaders include Alexis Collins (11) with 8 kills, Neely Schaaf (11) and McKinli Mays (10) who tied for most digs with 11, Alexis Collins with 2 aces, and Kalen Post (10) who led the team with 2 blocks.

On Saturday September 23, the team headed back to Clever to participate in the Volleyfest Tournament. They played 3 matches there.

First they met Glendale on the court and played 3 sets, but did not catch the win on any of them. Stat leaders for the match include Alexis Collins with 6 kills, Tenlie Steward with 7 digs, Gracie Mead (12) with 2 aces, and Alexis Collins and Gracie Mead who tied with 1 block.

Next up at Volleyfest was Thayer where the girls pulled out a big win securing 3 sets over Thayer. Stat leaders include, Neely Schaff and Avery Floyd (11) who tied with 6 kills, Alexis Collins and McKinli Mays with 8 digs each, McKinli Mays with 3 aces, and Kalen Post and Gracie Mead with 2 blocks each.

Their last game at Volleyfest was against Clever. Though they didn’t win here, they did have a great show of strength. State leaders include  Alexis Collins with 8 kills, Neely Schaaf and McKinli Mays who tied with 11 digs, Alexis Collins with 2 aces, and Kalen Post with 2 blocks.

The following week, on Tuesday, September 26, the team went to Buffalo where they had a big win! The team played four sets, winning three of them! Stat leaders include Alexis Collins with 8 kills, Neely Schaff and McKinli Mays who tied with 11 digs each, Alexis Collins with 2 aces, and Kalen Post with 2 blocks.

On Thursday, September 28, the team traveled to Fair Grove but didn’t come home with a win. Stat leaders include Avery Floyd with 5 kills and 15 digs, Alexis Collins and Gracie Mead who tied with 1 ace each, and Gracie Mead with 2 blocks.

On Monday, October 2, The team played against Versailles and pulled out a huge win, securing wins in all three matches. Stat leaders include Neely Schaaf with 10 kills, McKinli Mays with 12 digs, and Gracie Mead with 5 aces and 3 blocks.

Finally, on Tuesday, October 3, the team met Skyline on their home court and pulled off another huge win – securing three more matches before sending Skyline home with a loss. Stat leaders for this game were not yet updated, but Coach Rogers was satisfied with their game that night.

She said, “I felt like we finally fired on all cylinders. Everyone was vocal and aggressive and that made it easier to dominate Skyline. They didn’t block so we were able to hit more strategically.”

Stat leaders for the season include Neely Schaaf with 169 kills, Gracie Mead with 32 blocks and 28 aces, McKinli Mays with 247 digs and 337 receptions, and Alexis Collins with 331 assists.

The team hosted a home volleyball tournament last weekend, and is looking towards the end of their season. Coach Rogers said,  “We have three regular season games left after that and then districts. We got the one seed at districts, so hopefully we continue to play well and go far into the post season.”