VIDOR — It was a dig party Tuesday evening at Vidor Pirates Gym.
The Nederland Lady Bulldogs showed off a swarming defense en route to a sweep of the Vidor Lady Pirates to improve to 24-12 and 10-1 in District 22-5A play.
Nederland won the match 25-15, 25-10 and 25-15 behind a game-high 26 digs from Payton Swanson.
Swanson was far from alone as the only Lady Bulldogs player who got involved making sure not too many Vidor shots hit the floor.
Darcie Jones finished with 18 digs, Marlie Lee had 17, Emma Forsythe had 11 and Abbey Montalvo finished with six digs.
“We have a drill called ‘ball setter, ball hitter’ that teaches the kids how to read on everything,” Nederland coach Kristin Lemoine said. “They have to read on every single play. It has worked out for us tremendous.
“You have to be able to be able to pass so we rely tremendously on our defense.”
Forsythe finished with a team-high 12 assists while Montalvo dished out nine assists.
The match was never even close as the Lady Pirates (1-10 in 22-5A) only led one time, 2-1 in the second game. Nederland and Vidor were only tied twice, both times in Game 2 at 1-1 and 2-2.
After the 2-2 tie, Jones went on a tear while at serve. She hit for six straight service points to give Nederland an 8-2 lead.
Forsythe later hit for seven straight points to put the Lady Bulldogs ahead 21-6.
The Lady Bulldogs came out firing in Game 1 as the team built up a 4-1 lead before Vidor ever came up to serve. Vidor had 14 hitting errors in Game 1 as the Lady Bulldogs easily took a 1-0 lead in the match with a comfortable 25-15 victory.
Nederland later jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the last game and was never threatened by the Lady Pirates.
It was 10-1 when Courtney Noel struck for the first of her two aces in the match. Noel finished the match with nine kills.
The Lady Pirates had nine more hitting errors in the third game. The last gave the Lady Bulldogs the match.
Nederland is back at home for the remainder of the season starting this Friday against Baytown Lee. The Lady Bulldogs celebrate Senior Night next Tuesday against Beaumont Ozen.