Lady Pioneers fall in district action
|
The Lady Pioneers fell to White County in the first match of the day 25-12, 25-15, 25-10 and then to Oakland 25-8, 25-9 and 25-17.
“We played two good teams tonight, and it’s very disappointing when you’re playing well in the game but something simple like passing beats you,” said head coach Franklin Fisher.
Picked as one of the top teams in the district this year, the Warriorettes used their height advantage at the net to quickly set the tone for the game. Combined with a solid passing game, White County’s middle hitters found holes in the Warren County defense to build a 12-6 lead. The Warriorettes then went on a serving rampage with seven straight service points.
The Lady Pioneers had trouble passing the ball, and were unable to get into their offensive set. White County closed the game out from the service line for the 25-12 win.
In the second game the Lady Pioneers got things going after finding themselves down 5-1. Quick reaction on defense and consistent serving tied the game at 5-5. Lady Pioneer Courtney Martin helped her team when she took a set from Candace Stubblefield and hammered it down to keep the game tied at 8-8.
Down 11-9, the Lady Pioneers had the air let out of their sails when poor passing by the backcourt resulted in 13 service points for the Warriorettes, who built a 22-9 lead. Serving by McKenna Rhea and Stubblefield added six points to the Lady Pioneer total but it was too little, too late as White County served out for the game.
Warren County’s passing game continued to let them down in the third and final game of the match. The Warriorettes served 13 straight points to build a 14-2 lead. The Lady Pioneers never could recover from such a big deficit, and White County took the third and final game of the best three-out-of five match.
Against Oakland the Lady Pioneers had a hard time rebounding from the White County loss. Oakland served 16 straight points as it quickly built a 19-3 lead. The end result was a 25-8 disappointing first game defeat.
Passing in the second game would still be the problems for the Lady Pioneers. Not being able to handle the serve kept the Lady Pioneers from running their offense and were unable to attack at the net. Oakland cruised in the second game 25-9.
With hopes of turning things around Warren County covered the court and came up with several big plays to take a 6-0 lead. Both teams battled at the net with Karen Marlowe and Kara Youngblood doing a good job shutting down Oakland’s hitters. Serving from Amanda Goad and Stubblefield kept things close for Warren County with the Pioneers trailing 13-16.
Several good rallies by both teams made things interesting as the Lady Pioneers did a better job of receiving serve and were able to run their offense. Oakland had two big plays at the net and took advantage of two WCHS net errors to seal the win.
The Lady Pioneers return to action Tuesday at Grundy County, with a tri-match against Grundy and Bledsoe County High School. Fisher noted his team needs to work on its service receiving if they hope to find success.
“We had a hard time adjusting to their serves, and that was really the difference in both matches,” he said. “The girls are playing much better overall, but we have to move our feet and get in the right position in order to receive the serve.”