Bulldogs Back to Section Finals

George Bailey – NSO

The Carlton Bulldogs showed why it is the two-time defending Section 7A champions Wednesday night in its semifinal match against Cherry.

The Bulldogs turned in a solid performance in all facets of the game in the semifinal match at the Lincoln Elementary School Gymnasium in Hibbing, and took advantage of the errors that the Tigers committed. In addition, Carlton was able to shut down the Tigers with good blocking at the net and digging in the back row.

When it was all said and done with, Carlton came away with a convincing 3-0, 25-17, 25-21, 25-14 victory and will advance to the section championship match on Saturday against an undefeated Cook County team.

Cherry jumped out to leads of 4-1 and 7-3 in the first game, but once Carlton righted itself it took control of the set. The Bulldogs took leads of 15-10 and 20-15 en route to a 25-17 win.

The Bulldogs won the set 25-21 with the winning point coming on a kill by Amanda Groth.

The third set was all Carlton as it opened up leads of 8-2, 15-5 and 21-9 before finishing with a 25-14 victory.

Macy Belich had 16 kills for Carlton while Groth finished with 10 kills. Lindsay Ermatinger finished with six kills and Taylor Nelson had 15 digs. Hannah Benson recorded 16 set assists and Brynne Mickle had 20 set assists.

The Bulldogs will be back in action on Saturday when they take on undefeated Cook County in Duluth for the Section 7A championship.