Lady Tigers win in close sets over Lady Lions
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
GREENFIELD - Though the match only went three sets, the Highland County rivalry between the McClain Lady Tigers and Fairfield Lady Lions went close each set, but in the end it was the Lady Tigers who defended their home court with wins of 25-23, 25-21 and 25-22 Monday for a non-league victory.
The combined total for the McClain match win was nine points.
"I'm not too upset with how we played," FHS coach Mary Beth Hodson said. "Our bench players stepped up, and I was pleased with how we played."
Down two sets, the Lady Lions pressured the final sets, making the Lady Tigers earn the win 8-2 early in the set.
To get to the 8-2 lead to start the third set, McClain had points scored by Kelsey Davis and Jenna Perie. During the tallying of the points, the Lady Tigers scored seven-straight for the six-point lead.
The Lady Lions came back by scoring five of the next six points with help from sophomore Brenna Simmons.
McClain made the score 13-8 with serves from Sasha Lawwell and 14-10 with a point from Logan Greene.
The score quickly went to 16-12 with Davis leaping and tapping the ball slowly over the net to a spot where the Lady Lions weren't. FHS came back with a hard hit by junior Whitney Hanenkrat, who is a captain of the Lady Lion team.
Davis put MHS up 19-16 with a hit, but before that point was scored, Fairfield's Raeann Hurst scored the Lady Lions' 14th point.
Near the latter part of the third set, the Lady Lions came back with eight straight to rally and take the lead for the first time in the set, with points coming from out of bounds hits and with the Tigers hitting their own side of the net. FHS came within one points (21-20) when Sirenity Smith served an ace, and FHS took the lead with a sideways hit out of play by the Lady Tigers.
The match ended with Perie putting their Lady Tigers up 24-22 with a point. The final point came with FHS hitting the ball out of play.
Fairfield and McClain tied in the final set five times.
"Jenna (Perie) did a good job up front tonight," MHS coach Katy Paugh said. "We lost a couple good leads, but we stuck with it and got the win.
"Credit Fairfield for their digs, they did a good job of that."
In the first two sets, both teams tied a combined 10 times, with eight coming in the first set.
In the first set, Fairfield scored first, but it was tied by McClain's Brittany Mullikin. Erin Clarkson tied the set early at two with a point.
One of the longest battles in the set came with the Lady Lions coming within a points of MHS at 10-9 as each team dove, hit and leaped at the ball until FHS gained the point.
Later in the set, MHS took an 18-16 lead with a big spike by Perie. Davis pushed the ball over the net into an empty part of the court for a 20-17 lead. MHS increased its lead to 22-18 with an ace by Mackenzie Olacker.
Trailing 24-19, FHS rallied with four straight points scored by Makenna Corzatt, Simmons and Clarkson. MHS ended the game with a spike by Davis.
In the second set, McClain and FHS battled to a 5-5 tie, but it was then when MHS went on a scoring spree.
The nine straight points scored by MHS were served by Mullikin, along with points scored by teammates. One of the most unique points scored came when Perie helped up Davis, and then proceeded to slam the ball onto the FHS side of the court for a 11-5 score.
Simmons put FHS at 14-8, but the Lady Tigers pressured with points by Greene and other Lady Tigers.
Alyssa Bean put MHS up 23-16 as she hit the ball near the out of bounds line. FHS battled back to make the score 23-20 with a presence in the front of the net by Sarah Putnam and Simmons. During the FHS rally, they scored six straight points. MHS ended the second set with points by Davis.
For the match, FHS had 23 kills and the Lady Tigers gained 32.
Davis led MHS with 16 kills and 10 assists.
"Kelsey did well all around," Paugh said. "Mackenzie (Olacker) also had a good game, along with Brittany Mullikin with her serves."
Perie had eight digs, six kills and three aces. Greene finished with six kills, one ace and a team-high nine digs. Bean finished with six assists and two aces. Olacker had 10 assists and two aces. Lawwell finished with seven digs.
In JV games, MHS won in two sets by scores of 25-16 and 25-22.