Hosting Bourbon’s Lady Warhawks in front of the Bland Middle School (BMS) student body, Beki Willis’ Bland Lady Bear volleyball teams faced off last Thursday against their Gasconade Valley Conference (GVC) rivals to the southwest.

Seeing their seventh-grade counterparts falling in two sets 25-21 and 25-23, Bland’s eighth-grade Lady Bears dropped the first set before rallying to take the second set 26-24.

They eventually ended losing game three and the match.

Tatyn Campbell served a pair of aces midway through game one in seventh-grade action pulling the Lady Bears back to within a point at 12-11 before a Annie Newton ace and subsequent point gave Bland a 21-20 lead late in the first set.

Allowing five consecutive points, Bland dropped game one.

Game two saw the Lady Bears fall behind 7-1 before four Rylee Tinsley aces pulled Bland back to within two at 12-10 midway through the second set.

Down 17-11 later in the set, aces from Cora Langston, Newton and Campbell trimmed the deficit to two again at 22-20.

Another Tinsley ace made it 24-23 before a service error ended game two and the match.

After tournament action over the weekend by the eighth-grade Lady Bears from St. James, Bland ended their season last night (Tuesday) at home against Dixon.

Editor’s Note: Complete information on the eighth-grade match from last Thursday was not available by press time.