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BBE ended the Dogs' season a year ago in the subsectional semifinals, defeating the Bulldogs in a five-set match. BBE then won the subsection title.

Last week, BBE took the first two sets - 25-15 and 25-14 - before the Dogs rallied to win the third set. "The team played well overall but had too many errors serving and serve receiving," said head coach Dawn Knoll. "We seemed to be rather nervous entering the first match of the year."

The Bulldogs made a lineup change in the third set, putting senior middle hitter Amanda Glenz next to junior outside hitter Brittany Lieser to give the Dogs' a stronger hitting attack.

"The third game was a key for the attitude of the team. We won that game and gained some confidence to know that we can play with anybody. We have the skill but need to work on the idea of 'playing to win' rather than playing conservative and hoping the other team makes the mistake," said Knoll.

In the fourth set, the Bulldogs led 20-16, but BBE rallied behind some strong serving. With the game tied at 23-23, the Bulldogs had a good chance for a sideout but were unable to put the ball away, said Knoll. BBE scored the winning point with an ace serve.

"This was a good measuring stick for us. BBE is a strong program, and the Bulldogs played with them throughout the match. They were able to minimize their errors a bit better than we were," said Knoll.

This year, high school volleyball matches will use rally scoring, with a point awarded for every serve and for every sideout. Games will go to 25 points (instead of 15), except for a decisive fifth set (which still goes to 15 using rally scoring). Rally scoring should produce faster games with constant scoring.

This week, the Bulldogs hosted ACGC on Tuesday. They will play at LPGE on Thursday and will play at NL-S on Monday, Sept. 8.