Bronco volleyball bucks Bulldogs, 3-2

COLFAX - With both teams clad in pink for cancer awareness, the Lind-Ritzville/Sprague Broncos defeated the Colfax Bulldogs, 3-2, in a heated Northeast 2B League volleyball match Tuesday, Oct. 10.

Set scores for the match were 25-22, 23-25, 15-25, 25-18 and 15-10. The Broncos moved to 11-1 on the season and Colfax dropped to 4-7.

The teams traded points in Set 1 with kills by Bronco senior libero Madisyn Cameron and Colfax senior middle blocker Ava Swan until the set was tied, 15-15.

An ace by senior Brenna Gilchrist gave Colfax the advantage, but a kill by freshman Willow Lawler helped the Broncos even the score, 22-22. A kill by junior Hannah Towne broke the tie and the Broncos scored the remaining points needed to win Set 1, 25-22.

In Set 2, an ace by sophomore Avery Andrus gave the Bulldogs a 6-3 advantage, but aces by junior Saige Galbreath and senior Addy Colbert allowed the Broncos to lessen the gap, trailing 9-8.

The score remained close the rest of the way and Colfax came out ahead, winning set two, 25-23.

A pair of aces by Andrus gave Colfax an early lead in set three.

"Overall, we served much better than we have been," Colfax Coach Megan Dorman said. "I thought it was the first time we've gone back to serving spots. At times our defense was better than it has been. Picking up tips and chips was better than it has been, by far.

The first 4 points of the set for Lind-Ritzville were due to fumbled serves by Colfax. Utilizing Swan's spikes with assists by junior setter Cianna Gibb allowed the Bulldogs to run the court and win set three, 25-15.

Five aces by Colfax early in set four gave the Bulldogs a 10-6 lead, but the Broncos quickly recovered and tied the set, 12-12 on a block kill by junior middle blocker Saige Galbreath.

Two front-line block kills and more kills by Colbert and junior Hannah Towne gave the Broncos a strong 24-16 advantage.

An ace by Gibb gave the Bulldogs some life, but on the next volley Colfax hit the ball out of bounds and the Broncos won set four, 25-18.

An ace by Galbreath opened the scoring in set five, but a kill by Swan tied the final set. Lind-Ritzville would gain a 1-point lead, but Colfax would keep tying the set every point until the score was 7-7.

Colfax gained the next 2 points, prompting Broncos Coach Cari Galbreath to call a timeout.

The set became tied again at 10-10 when Lind-Ritzville senior Danika Cox went on a serving spree. She tallied three aces on the way to a Broncos 15-10 victory.

Swan led Colfax with 27 kills and 25 digs. Gibb had 41 assists.

Sweeping Asotin

The tough win over Colfax came just two days after the Bronco girls made easy work of the Asotin Panthers, winning in 3-0 sweep.

Set scores were 25-18, 25-9 and 25-15.

Coach Galbreath had a smile the entire evening during Pink Night at home in Gilson Gymnasium.

Asotin just didn't have an answer for the play of Saige Galbreath and Zoe Galbreath.

Saige Galbreath had 9 kills, 11 blocks and a dig in the dominating win over the other Northeast 2B team.

Zoe Galbreath added 20 assists and 5 aces.

In Northeast 2B play, the Broncos are in second place, trailing only Freeman (10-1). The Scotties only loss of the year was Friday night, Oct. 11, to the defending state 2B champion, No. 2-ranked Manson Trojans.

Freeman finished second in state last year in Class 1A and Lind-Ritzville was second in state in Class 2B.

Next up for the Broncos is the Upper Columbia Academy Lions (1-6) from Spangle on Tuesday, Oct. 15, in an away match. Lind-Ritzville returns home with a match against Manson (10-1) on Saturday, Oct.19.

The Bulldogs will next face Freeman on Tuesday, Oct. 15, in an away match. Colfax will then play at home against Asotin on Thursday, Oct. 17.