The Bowie Lady Rabbits got things going in the right direction on Saturday as they kicked off district at home against the challenging and familiar Henrietta.
After five back and forth sets it was the Lady Rabbits who came out the victor by the narrowest of margins. Early on it seemed like both teams were evenly matched and it would come down to who executed better down the stretch.
Bowie got out to an early 12-8 lead and were clicking on all cylinders, but the Lady Cats were able to close the gap and even take an 18-17 lead. The Lady Rabbits were able to regain form and close out the set on an 8-1 run to win the first set 25-19.
The second set seemed like it would be more of the same for Bowie as they jumped out to a 5-0 lead. However, Henrietta was able to fire back on the strength of their serves and net play as they not only made up the difference, but built a respectable 15-10 lead midway through the set.
The margin did not get any better after 10 points as the Lady Cats led 20-15 and it seemed like they were on their way to close the second set and tie the match up.
The Lady Rabbits made a mighty charge as they closed the gap to one point, still trailing 23-22 but right in position to steal the set after playing catch up for the majority of it. Unfortunately, Henrietta was able to close things out as they won the second set 25-22 to tie the match up.
The third set was tightly contested throughout the early points, but midway through Bowie grabbed a 14-11 lead and never looked back. They were able to keep that margin after 10 points at 19-16 and grow it down the stretch as the Lady Rabbits won the third set 25-20 to go back up.
Needing to win the fourth set to avoid the winner take all fifth set, Bowie needed to have a good start to the fourth set to not give the desperate Lady Cats any hope of a comeback. Unfortunately, the Lady Rabbits played the opposite way.
Henrietta jumped out to an early 8-2 lead. Instead of things getting better from there they got worse. Ten points later they were down 14-6 as nothing was going right for Bowie.
Effort plays were made by Bowie players, but good serving and sharp net play from the Lady Cats had the Lady Rabbits on the ropes the whole set as they could not get any rhythm of an offense going.
Henrietta’s lead just continued to grow as the set went along. The late set surge that came in the second from Bowie never came as the Lady Cats closed things out just as strong as they started as they won the fourth set by the huge margin 25-10.
Knowing they could only play better after that set, the Lady Rabbits prepared themselves to play the fifth and final set. Played first to 15 instead of 25, there would be no time for a slow start.
The teams were point to point early on, but Henrietta did gain a slight 5-3 lead early on. Bowie was able to gain the upper hand as they not only closed the gap, but took the lead at 8-6.
For the rest of the set the two teams traded points. Each time the Lady Cats would cut the lead to one point, the Lady Rabbits would score again to get their lead back up to two. Eventually, Bowie was able to close the set out by the narrowest of margins as they won 15-13 to win the match.

To read the whole story, pick up a copy of the mid-week edition of the Bowie News.