The JV Volleyball started out the day ready to play in their home invitational.  In pool play against St. Johns, Ionia pulled out the victory 25-19, 25-15.  The Bulldogs then faced East Lansing.  The girls started out slow and dropped the first set 18-25 but was able to pull it together in the second set, winning 25-20.   After a long three match break the Lady Dawgs went back in action against Belding. In a tight back and forth set, the girls lost 23-25.  They again were able to regroup and pull it together to win the second set 25-20.  This seated them first in pool play heading into bracket play.

The Bulldogs started bracket play against Mason and were able to defeat them in two sets, 25-15 and 25-16. Their next opponent was Portland.  In a tight and exciting back and forth match, the Bulldogs were able to win the first set 33-31.  The emotions were high on both sides of the court and again the two teams battled it out and the Bulldogs dropped the second set 25-27.  The girls were determined not to drop the match.  They came out strong in the third set and never looked back, defeating the Raiders 15-6.

The final match was a repeat of last year with Ionia and Grand Ledge matching up against each other. In a close battle again, Ionia was able to grab the win in the first set 25-22.  Again emotions were running high and got the best of the team in the second set which we lost 16-25.  In the third set both teams were determined to win, every point was a battle and in the end Ionia claimed the victory 17-15.

All the girls played amazing today and really pulled together as a team.  Leading the team at the net were Amelia Griffith and Josie Lee with 30 and 27 kills. Tessa Lemke added 18 and Kylie Leonard 15. Kylie Leonard also had 45 assists and Addie Bowne added 34. Paislie Patterson and Tessa Lemke led the team with some strong serving.  Patterson had 13 aces and Lemke 10, Patterson also led the team on defense with 142 digs.

The Bulldogs will be back in action on Tuesday, September 19 at Charlotte with a 5:00pm start time  The Bulldogs are now 13-1-4.