Pleasant Valley ends Bettendorf volleyball win streak

The streak has ended. After an astonishing 42-game MAC win streak, the Bulldog volleyball team fell to Pleasant Valley on Tuesday in a nail-biting five-match game.

Bettendorf travelled mere blocks to play PV at their court in a state top-ten showdown. Bettendorf sat at number 7 while PV was right behind them at 8. The game would determine the leader of the pack for the MAC title.

Pleasant Valley hit the ground running, controlling the tempo of the game and winning the first two sets, even though Bettendorf was right neck and neck both sets. With the game on the line, the Bulldogs rallied to win two sets of their own, thus pushing the game into a winner take all fifth set to 15 points. Bettendorf had the lead in the last set, but lost it in the end 15-11.

Standouts for the game include seniors Caroline Baer and Jordan Ratigan, each totaling over 10 kills on the night. Seniors Grace Erpelding and Abbey Fromi led the team in assists with 25 and 19, respectively.

PV’s offense was much more individually focused, with senior Elissa Moylan and sophomore Erica Brohm having almost 20 kills each, and the next highest behind them being only 7. PV had 13 blocks total on the night while Bettendorf had 23. PV got off 25 more kill attempts than Bettendorf and had a higher kill efficiency than the Bulldogs as well.

PV now owns the front of the pack for the MAC title, which Bettendorf has had control of for almost five years now. Before Tuesday night, the last time Bettendorf was beaten in MAC play was in 2012 against Clinton in the regular season closer.

The Bulldogs look to bounce back from the streak-ender and continue a solid season, in which the team earned its own district for substate and look to head back to the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids for another chance at a state title.