FLATONIA — The Fla - tonia High School volleyball team defeated Ganado High School at Bulldogs Gym in Flatonia Oct. 17 by a final score of 25-10, 25-16, 25-16.
The Lady Bulldogs performed at a high level on both sides of the ball, which made it tough for Ganado to get a rhythm going.
“Staying focused on our game plan," said Flatonia first- year volleyball coach Lauren Hoffman on the win.
“We always go over our game plan prior to a game and really setting our goals for our team. So really sticking to that game plan was huge for us. Running our offense as well off of free balls.” Fla - tonia freshman outside hitter Katelin Sullivan notched nine kills for the match and has contributed heavily in both the kills and assists categories throughout the year.
"Definitely, at the begin- ning of the season, I was mainly a hitter,” Sullivan said on her contributions. “I didn’t play back row, I didn’t set, but throughout the past several months, I have adjusted and in practices, we’ve been working on it. The coaches have been helping me to progress even more. Honestly, I can’t suc - ceed without help from our DS’s, our hitters, so everyone contributes as a team.”
After a close start to the first set at 5-4 in favor of Fla- tonia, a tip ball by the Lady Bulldogs then two errors from Ganado made it 11-5. Flatonia went on to score 11 points in a row, which included four aces in a row and two of them com - ing from Sullivan. Ganado responded with three consec - utive points on two balls in the net from Flatonia and a ball out of bounds from them as well. A kill for Flatonia sealed the set at 25-10.
Both teams battled it out early in the second set and found themselves tied at seven with a lot of mishits involved.
Back-to-back kills from Sullivan put it at 9-7 before the Lady Bulldogs scored six straight points with a few kills and a little help from Ganado.
Flatonia kept this same kind of cushion for the remainder of the set with a lot of kills and even a tip ball from soph - omore Summer Sodek. Sodek also grabbed a kill in that stretch at the 19-14 mark. Five
more points in a row from Fla - tonia with another kill added for Sullivan won the Lady Bulldogs the second set 25-16.
Flatonia really locked in for the third set and scurried out to a big lead at 10-3 on two kills from Sodek, an ace and a kill from Sullivan, and some errors mixed in from Ganado. Flatonia didn’t look back and had a 17-6 advantage to go along with three aces in a row, two being from Sodek and one from Sullivan. Sullivan put down a couple more kills en route to a 25-16 set and match win with both teams trading points for the remainder of the event.
