Top: Lashia Walker #12  and Shavonda Haynes #8 set up to make the block against River Road.
Bottom: Yadi Rodriguez #1 looks to set up her teammates against Hereford.
Photos by Michelle Berry

By Rusty Berry
Sports Editor
Last night, the Lady Bulldogs rough start to the 2008 season continued with losses to Hereford and River Road in Amarillo.

Game one against Hereford, the number one ranked team in the state in 4A, started pretty good for the Lady Bulldogs by jumping out to a 4-2 lead.
Hereford would answer to go on a run to jump out ahead 7-11, but good net play led by Emma Boren and Lashia Walker and solid serving by Chelsea Gray and Jaemi Groves brought the Lady Bulldogs back with Shavonda Haynes giving them a 14-13 lead after a kill.
The two teams would exchange points before Hereford ended the game strong to take the first game 16-25.
In game two, Hereford jumped out early 0-3 but the Lady Bulldogs fought back to tie the game up 6-6 with the help of some great defense.
Hereford would answer by relying heavily on their big strong front court to go on a 12 point run that included six kills to pull out ahead 6-18.
Boren would end Hereford’s run with a kill of her own and the Lady Bulldogs would try to crawl back into the game but the deficit was too much with Hereford claiming game two 13-25.
Game three just seemed to go right on almost everything for Hereford, allowing them to start the game jumping out ahead 2-11.
The Lady Bulldogs would not quit but Hereford showed why they are one of the best teams in any classification throughout the state taking game three and the match easily 7-25.
The Lady Bulldogs would regroup and came out ready to play the Lady Cats of River Road tough.
In game one the Lady Bulldogs jumped out to a 9-5 lead with great play that included a couple good blocks by Walker and Haynes and some solid backcourt play by Leah Piland and Marissa Barnard.
River Road would stay calm and would slowly start chipping away at the Lady Bulldog lead to tie it up 12-12.
The Lady Bulldogs would end the Lady Cat run with Gray making a good tip over after a great dig by Yadi Rodriguez to make the score 13-14.
River Road would answer strong with some great serving to open up a lead and take game one 18-25.
Game two started with the two teams going back and forth but River Road would have two five point runs in the middle of the game to take a 12-21 lead and looking to be on their way for the easy win.
The Lady Bulldogs would come back by going on a seven point run, that included two aces by Haynes, to pull pack to with in two points 19-21.
The comeback would fall just short however with River Road ending the game strong winning 20-25.
In game three the Lady Bulldogs tried to fight back but just could not cool off River Road with the Lady Cats taking game three and the match 15-25.
The Lady Bulldogs will continue their tour of Amarillo on Friday when they travel back to take on Arbor Academy followed by another trip next Tuesday to take on Highland Park.