DEXTER -- The Dexter Bearcats overpowered Bloomfield in the first set and captured their first win of the season Tuesday night.
The Bearcats defeated Bloomfield 25-16, 25-19 in an SCAA volleyball match at the Bearcat Event Center.
"I was proud of the girls the first game," Dexter coach Starla Pulley said. "They came out and pretty much controlled the game the whole time. We controlled the net. We played good defense. We set well. Our hitters attacked the ball and attacked the net."
Bloomfield coach Haley Silman said that her players seemed intimidated and played tight early in the match.
"We let one server kind of get in our heads," Silman said. "(We) make a bad pass and kind of let that snowball into four or five points. We've got to kind of work on our mind game as far as that goes."
Freshman Dulcie Pullen was that server, sparking a 10-0 run that included two aces.
Blair Rogers had four kills during that stretch and finished with 10 overall.
"She just has to have confidence in herself," Pulley said of Rogers. "(Monday) night (against Farmington), she got blocked a couple of times. I talked to her before the game, and I told her, 'You just go up. You're a good hitter. Own that. Go up and power through the block. Wipe out the block. Take care of the ball.' She can do it, and she did it tonight."
The Bearcats (1-3, 1-0 SCAA) never trailed in the first set, but Bloomfield was behind only 8-5 prior to their 10-point surge.
Bloomfield (5-4-1, 0-1) fought back behind the strong front-row presence of Bailey Below. She had four kills and a kill-block late in the set, but the Wildcats never came closer than eight points.
Rogers ended the set with her sixth kill of the game.
The Wildcats led for much of the second set. They were ahead by as many as four points twice (6-2 and 16-12).
"I feel like we battled with them. We started getting good touches on the block. We started passing some," Silman said. "We started reading the floor better and started talking to each other better, kind of letting our hitters know where the holes were. Serving was really good that second set. Natalie (Powell) had several good serves in a row."
Pulley said her team became complacent in the second set.
"We quit talking and moving a little bit. We kind of got a little comfortable," Pulley said. "You can't get comfortable against a good team. You've got to go out every point and play hard. So we had to get them refocused and get that communication and energy back."
The Bearcats closed the set with a 9-0 run on the serve of Alexa Werneck. She had an ace and a kill during that stretch. Maycie Martin contributed two kills.
Werneck finished with five kills and two blocks, and Martin tallied three kills and two blocks.
Shelby Bishop led the Bearcats with 11 digs. She and Rogers had a team-high five digs.
Bloomfield's Below finished with 10 kills, five assists, three digs and two kill-blocks. Karsynn Phillips had a team-high 17 digs, and Creylee Huddleston paced Bloomfield with nine assists.
In the junior varsity match, the Bearcats won 19-25, 25-20, 25-14 to improve to 3-1.