The Pike County volleyball team had their season come to a close on Monday afternoon when they fell to Straughn in the opening round of the Class 3A Area 4 Tournament.

The Bulldogs fell in straight sets 12-25, 19-25 and 19-25.

“Straughn is decent,” said head coach Todd Reynolds. “Unfortunately, we keep getting placed in some super-heavy talented areas. If we are ever going to make the next step, we are going to have to beat one of these teams. Those last two games were nip and tuck and they would make a little move and get three points ahead. That was the difference.”

The Bulldogs finished the season with a 6-9 record and found themselves in second place in the Area 4 standings behind undefeated Opp.

Throughout the season, Reynolds expressed the importance of good serves. As the season went along, he started to see improvements.

“We did a good job at putting the ball where we needed it,” Reynolds said. “We made it more difficult for the other team to get their sets going. It was not a bad job and we did have a decent attack. Our challenge was we just didn’t hit the ball hard enough.”

The varsity squad wasn’t the only group to take a step forward during the 2018 season; the junior varsity team made strides as well and they hope to build on that in the offseason.

“The JV had a decent year,” Reynolds said. “They got better throughout the year. They actually won an area contest against Straughn.”

The Bulldogs will attempt to mix in many of this year’s JV team into the varsity squad next year.

“We have to merge them in this upcoming season and create the next group,” Reynolds said. “I’m losing four seniors.”

With the offseason now upon them, Reynolds wants his players to figure out their roles on the team.

“I’m trying to get them to understand what role play is,” Reynolds said. “If you’re going to be a striker, then be a striker, and just learning how to take care of your personal responsibilities as far as making a better team.”