Dowagiac volleyball coach Sara Lawrence saw progress from her team in a 25-18, 31-29, 23-25, 25-17 loss to Vicksburg in Wolverine Conference play on Thursday.

“From game one on, we battled,” said Lawrence, whose team fell to 0-6 overall and 0-2 in the Wolverine. “Last week, we were not battling at all and were just taking a beating. We worked really hard (in practice) at the end of last week into this week and our improvement showed tonight.”

Dowagiac had a three-hour practice last Thursday after losing three matches last week.

“We practiced really hard (last) Thursday, had kind of a cool down practice (last) Friday and then practiced again this Tuesday and Wednesday,” Lawrence said.

Dowagiac’s hard work was rewarded in game three against the Bulldogs. After nine ties, the Chieftains prevailed, 25-23. Dowagiac scored three of the final four points in the game.

Unfortunately for the Chieftains, Vicksburg won the first two games with the win in game two being deflating for Dowagiac. The Chieftains were serving for game point three times in game two at 26-25, 28-27 and 29-28, but couldn’t put away the Bulldogs. A game that featured 13 ties came to an end after Vicksburg got a service ace from Olivia Welch.

“Huge,” said Vicksburg coach Katrina Miller about winning the second game. “We have a relatively young team and they can’t deal with pressure really well.”

Dowagiac led by as many as six points twice in game two.

“That definitely was the difference in the match,” Lawrence said about failing to hold on to win game two.

Vicksburg was in control for much of game four, jumping out to a 15-7 lead. Dowagiac made a mini-run in the game, pulling within 21-16, but couldn’t get any closer.

“We got tired and started getting frustrated,” Lawrence said. “Their drive was just going out. We had that drive in the second and third game.”

Dowagiac got a strong offensive performance from Whitney Donaldson, who finished with eight kills.

“Whitney Donaldson was on the JV team last year as a junior to get more practice time and experience,” Lawrence said. “She came back this year and has dominated in the middle and done an awesome job.”

Vicksburg never trailed in game one and led by as many as seven points twice.

Vicksburg d. Dowagiac, 25-18,31-29, 23-25, 25-17

Kills: Whitney Donaldson (D) 8, Brittany Williams (D) 3, Tara Gloystein (V) 6, Olivia Welch (V) 5, Logan Nabozny (V) 4, Torrie Sears (V) 3.

Blocks: Nabozny (V) 3.

Aces: Donaldson (D) 3, Carly Polomcak (D) 2, Kristyn Turner (D) 2, Welch (V) 8, Nabozny (V) 6, Claudia Ramsey (V) 3, Logan Vanderbos (V) 3.

Digs: Polomcak (D) 8, Cassandra Weidy (D) 5, Jessica Herthoge (D) 5, Turner (D) 4, Logan Vanderbos (V) 15, Shae Snyder (V) 6, Amanda Bowersox (V) 5, Welch (V) 5, Gloystein (V) 3.