The Lady Tigers played against the Robinson Maroons on Monday, September 10th.  The Fresh/Soph team played sluggishly in the first set, but came out firing in the second, winning it by a landslide.  Kelcee Lowrance had several aces that brought the Tigers to a lead, and Katie Draper had several kills that sped the momentum of the game to a high.  Although the Lady Tigers played strongly, they could not quite grasp a lead to win.  Robinson ended the match by winning the last set, which only went to 10 points.

In the Junior Varsity game, the turnout was very similar to the Fresh/Soph match.  Robinson came out strong with several good servers and hitters, making the game tough for the Lady Tigers.  The first set went by quickly because the Maroons had several long serving runs, and the Tigers lost the first set.  In the second set of J.V., our Lady Tigers acquired a hunger to win.  The team played very strongly with hard hits from Katie Draper and and nice passes from Kelsey Hites.  Although the team had a strong performance, Robinson ended the match by winning the second set by three points.

The Varsity game started with the players moving slowly.  Robinson got some momentum, having the serve.  This made coming back very difficult, and it was not able to be done by the Tigers.  They lost the first set.  At the start of the second set, the Lady Tigers came out firing with the serve.  Marah Matthews had several strong serves, breaking down the Maroons.  The rest of the serving game was back and forth, but the Tigers were at least four points ahead.  However several mistakes were made and although they put up a strong front, the Lady Tigers lost the game by a grueling two points.

The next night on Tuesday, September 11th, the Lady Tigers again played three games against the Warriors of Casey-Westfield.  The Fresh/Soph game went by very fast with our team playing very well.  Mckenna Love, a setter, played excellently, having many good sets.  The Tigers beat the Warriors in the first set.  In the second set, Hutsonville-Palestine again came out firing, with Haley Guyer spiking very well.  The game went quickly as well, because the Tigers won by a landslide, playing even better than the first set!

The Junior Varsity had a tough time because the Warriors had a couple of tall players that could place the ball very well in both serving and hitting.  In the first set, the Lady Tigers struggled with their passing and communication, and Casey’s team got on a roll.  By the time the Tigers got warmed up and ready to play, it was too late, and the Warriors took the first set.  In the second set, Hutsonville-Palestine was able to stay with the other team on the scoreboard.  Izzy Sheets had several good serves in the match, which helped keep the team up.  Although the Tigers played very strongly in the second set, they were lost by a couple points and did not come out with a win.

The Varsity game went nicely, and in the first set, the team was up several points the whole game!  Mackenzie Stephenson had many strong serves, helping the team get ahead.  The Tigers got in a rut for five points or so, but they kicked it back in gear and won the first set by seven points.  In the second set, they played very well, and the players were on their toes and moving on defense.  Many of the Lady Tigers had serving runs, racking up the points.  The Warriors were flustered and could not fight back.  The Tigers won the second set as well, winning the night’s match!

The two matches this week taught the Tigers a lot about the importance of communication and good teamwork.  Allison Dunlap said, ¨We played well, but we still need to improve on a few things.  All in all we have been playing good together.” The Lady Tiger Varsity will play this Saturday throughout the day in the Charleston Tournament against eleven other teams.   They will also play Fresh/Soph, J.V., and Varsity at Marshall High School on Tuesday, September 18th, with Fresh/Soph starting at 5:15 p.m.