Coach Bailey Dowd sees ‘night and day’ improvement throughout Big Horns’ first campaign in Class B
By Jack Reaney ASSOCIATE EDITOR
The Lone Peak High School Big Horns fell just short of their first victory of the season in back-to-back matches against Whitehall High School on Tuesday, Sept. 26 and Friday, Sept. 29. Head coach Bailey Dowd said they could have won the matches, which both reached a winner-take-all fifth game—and Whitehall took all.
Still, Dowd is seeing positives in her winless team. Between Tuesday and Friday, she saw improvement and a “much more consistent game of volleyball” in the latter match against Whitehall.
“In the first four sets of each game, we played strong and confident volleyball,” Dowd said. “And we got nervous down the stretch in the fifth game. That 15-point [fifth] game, you know, the whole night’s on the line. The nerves definitely showed, and unfortunately that was the difference in both matches.”
Senior Vera Grabow missed most of the season with an injured ankle, but made her return—only serving, for now—on Friday night against Whitehall.
Coach Dowd said Grabow had five aces among her 15 serves, and she added energy and positive momentum.
“It was a pretty spectacular moment on Friday night,” Dowd said. “Her first point back in, we had a huge crowd here for homecoming week. Our bench, the [crowd], everyone really lit up and supported her for coming back. Even if it’s in a limited way for now, it’s important for the team as our captain… the support we felt for her was awesome. And it was electric.”
A winning attitude in homecoming loss
On Saturday, the Big Horns hosted Broadwater High School (Townsend) for their homecoming match. The Bulldogs entered undefeated, ranked atop Lone Peak’s division and high among Montana Class B volleyball—the Big Horns joined from Class C after last season.
“We hung with them. I told the girls in the locker room that I’m really proud of how they played, especially in the first two sets,” Dowd said after Saturday’s match. “In those first two sets, we really did hang with them, point after point, and played two really competitive games.”
Dowd said the Big Horns’ front row was firing against a fast offense, and they might have out-blocked the Bulldogs. Still, Townsend’s high-powered spread was too much for a young Lone Peak team, and the Bulldogs swept the Big Horns, 3-0.
“Compared to how we played them a month ago? Night and day. I’m really proud of the progress we’ve made in the last month,” Dowd said.
Before the match, technical difficulties prompted Athletic Director John Hannahs to use his outside voice: he shouted to welcome the crowd for homecoming, and he added some bass to the national anthem, sung beautifully by Lone Peak senior Abby Meredith without a microphone but gently hummed by both sides of a supportive crowd. Afterwards, Hannahs announced the starting lineups with gusto.
The Big Horns lost the first two games of the match, both 25-15, and the third game 25-9. However, they sparked scoring runs against a tough Bulldog defense, including scoring six of seven in the first game to cut their deficit to 17-13. In the second game, sophomore Lily Turner served a stretch of six straight points including an ace, and a spike from senior Ella Meredith that prompted a distressed Bulldog huddle as the scoreboard showed 12-11 in the undefeated team’s favor.
Throughout the afternoon, the packed gymnasium buzzed with homecoming energy. Parents and classmates applauded strong plays, caring less for the overall trend of the game—which mostly kept the Bulldogs in the lead—and more for the quality of Big Horn volleyball.
“It’s awesome, I can’t thank this town enough for coming out to support us. Even in a hard first season in [Class] B, parents, students and staff—everyone’s been here to support us all the way through,” Dowd said.
On the court, Lone Peak players smiled and high-fived, celebrating their level of competition against a highly regarded team. Grabow continued to sub-in for serves, adding moments of energy to team huddles.
Coach Dowd said the second half of the season has been exciting as her team learns and improves against opponents they faced earlier on.
“We’ve gotten better and better throughout the season, so it will be nice to have some redemption moments,” she said.
On Saturday, Oct. 7, the Big Horns will play their final home match against Manhattan High School. The team will celebrate senior night and honor Vera Grabow, Greta McClain, Ella Meredith, Dylan Klein and Emerson Tatom.
They’ll finish with four matches on the road, before entering the district tournament.
