Lady Pioneers fall at Lebanon: WCHS loses 7-AAA match in four games

By DALE STUBBLEFIELD Staff Reporter for the Southern Standard

Warren County’s Ashley Malone digs out a ball during Thursday’s District 7-AAA volleyball match at Lebanon. The Lady Pioneers fell to the Blue Devilettes, losing in four games.

Coming off of an upset victory over White County on Tuesday, the Lady Pioneers were looking for their second big win in a row when they hit the rain-soaked road Thursday to take on Lebanon.

The Lady Pioneers struggled in both the varsity and junior varsity matches, falling 15-25, 25-17, 13-25, 14-15 in the varsity match and 19-25, 25-14, 6-15 in the JV game.

The Lady Pioneers fell behind early in the first game, but fought their way back in the second game with good serving and blocking. Warren County continued to use its 6-2 offense with Mary Kate Fisher and Brittany Frazier handling the setting duties. Frazier had five assists on the night with Fisher picking up three.

Karen Marlowe had a solid night, collecting 16 points for the Lady Pioneers with Fisher adding 12 points. Alysa Lankford had four kills and two blocks in the last two games and Bethany King did a good job of taking control of the middle. The Lady Pioneers’ middle net play was solid, but Lebanon pounded the ball from the outside to take the final two games and the match.

Fatigue set in during the final two games, a fact Lady Pioneer coach Franklin Fisher attributed to the amount of action his team has seen over the past two weeks.

“In the first two games we played with a lot of energy, but we started to run out of gas in the last two games,” Fisher said. “These girls have played 13 matches in the last seven days, and fatigue was definitely a factor tonight. We’ll take a few days off and comeback on Tuesday to face Riverdale.

“I was still pleased with our play tonight. Lebanon is one of the better teams in District 7-AAA this year.

“We had a few mental mistakes tonight but our transition on our front row rotation continues to improve.”