The Dexter Dreadnaughts swept visiting Chelsea on Tuesday night before a huge crowd at Dexter High School, but the real winner on the night was a much more important cause. Both teams and most of the fans in the crowd were pinked out for the annual Dig Pink game which raises support and money for Breast Cancer Awareness.
Dexter improved to 28-6 on the season and will face Pioneer on Thursday for Senior Night.
And while the Dreadnaughts took all three games, the action on the court was close, intense and well-played by both sides.
Dexter opened the first game looking like the team with something to prove. The Dreads got some fine play by a number of players including Cami Fischer, Quinn LaFontaine and Sydney Bussineau to help take an early 9-3 lead in the opener.
Senior Livvy Mellifont served Dexter to an 18-10 lead.
But did anyone in the gym believe Chelsea would just pack it in? Against Dexter? Yeah, no way.
The Bulldogs came storming back and cut the Dexter lead to 23-20.
After a Dexter time out, LaFontaine and Delaney Arndt both made some big saves to keep the ball alive leading to a Dexter point and a 24-20 lead.
Again, Chelsea put a few strong plays together and actually took a 25-24 lead. It was time to find out what this Dexter team was made of – and they showed everyone in the gym. A spike by Fischer gave Dexter a 27-26 lead. A spike by Bussineau made it 28-27 and the Dreads picked up the last point for a wild 29-27 win.
Chelsea started out strong in the second game. But the Dreadnaughts kept battling and tied the match at 13-13 on a back-row spike by Jordan Kless. A spike by Kless gave Dexter a 16-14 lead and the home team was starting to roll.
After a great save by Mellifont kept the ball in play, Eleanor King slammed home a winner to make it 23-17. A spike by LaFontaine ended the match at 25-19.
Game three was close from start to finish – the Bulldogs were not going to make this easy. King spiked home a point to tie it at 6-6 and a great save by Arndt led to a point for a tie at 7-7.
LaFontaine served the hosts to an 11-10 lead. A block by Bussineau and a spike by Hanna Quinn gave Dexter a 14-11 lead. And back-to-back points from LaFontaine pushed Dexter’s lead to 18-16.
The play of the game was turned in by Mellifont. The senior made a diving play on a ball, with her back to the net, and somehow got a hand on the ball to keep it alive. Her teammates did the rest and landed a point for a 19-16 lead and perhaps the loudest cheer of the night.
A spike by Fischer gave Dexter a 21-18 lead. The Dreads finished the night with a 25-21 win for the sweep over rival Chelsea.
This was a total team effort for the Dreadnaughts and the stats back that up.
King and Bussineau each had six kills and Quinn had five to lead Dexter. King (15) and Arnedt (11) led Dexter in assists. LaFontaine had a team-high 26 digs while three others were in double-figures – Mellifont (14), Kaitlin Delacy (11) and Arnedt (10).
