BY BROOKE ALVERSON

Coach Ariel Apolinarios' Bulldogs thrived on Thursday's (3-1) match that featured a wide range of dispering the ball amongst hitters. The Bulldogs came out hot leading 25-13 in the first set. The Cardinals rallied back to take the second set 25-23, after the Bulldogs were leading 22-19. 

The Bulldogs closed out the last two sets at 25-11 and 26-24, respectively. 

Head coach Ariel Apolinarios' team is looking to improve on a weekly basis, "I thought we responded well tonight, especially after the match [against Tyler JC]. Tonight, we did well in sets one and three. I felt good for the most part that we were in control from point one to twenty-five. We were doing the small things and that translated to the points we won. We couldn't finish game two, so I was disappointed, but I told the players more than anything there was some growth for us. WE can work on us and that's the goal knowing we can do the small things while working on our side of the net and still come out on top." 

Johanna Alcantara had her second double-double of the season with 28 kills on 47 attempts, hitting .510 on the night and contributed 13 digs. Another exceptional night for Middle Blocker, Alexis Ratliff, as she had 10 kills on 20 attemps, hitting .400. Along with Jada Close rounding out the offense with 6 kills on 17 attempts. 

Freshman Laurel Nalls posted her second double-double as well, with 43 assists and 13 digs in the match.

The numbers don't lie for outside hitter Johanna Alcantara. Coach Apolinario acknowledged her contribution to the match, "Johanna [Alcantara] has come in since day one and been a force for us. It's no secret that she's physical and she's been great on a nightly basis for us. She finds a way to get it done and whenever you have players like that, we can build around that type of gift that she has."  

The 'Dawgs had a total of 12 aces on the night while NC's defense totaled 90 digs, two short of a season high.  Patricia Pantoja, held down the defense with 25 digs. 

The Bulldogs play their third home match of the year against Victoria College on Thursday in a 6 pm CST Region XIV match.

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