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Lady Tigers defeat Seneca at home
NEVADA, Mo. -- The Nevada High School varsity volleyball team was finally able to make their way back onto the winning track Monday night as they hosted the Seneca Lady Indians.
The Lady Tigers got off to a strong start to the season with a 5-2 record early, but have fallen off as of late, sending their record into a downward spiral as they lost five of seven matches to fall to .500 on the year leading up to Monday's match against Seneca.
Monday's win came on the heels of a tough road match at El Dorado Springs when the Lady Tigers lost in two sets, 25-22 and 25-23. The Lady Tigers made a game of it in both sets, forcing an up-and-down battle in which neither team ever led by more than four points.
Aside from one small run of five points in the second set, Lady Tigers head coach Becky Lowery said that Nevada's serve receive was good and there were no major let-downs such as the ones the Lady Tigers have battled all year. Both teams played a strong match and El Dorado Springs was able to finally come out on top by the narrowest possible margin in both sets.
"It was a good game both ways," Lowery said. "We did a much better job staying focused on our passing. The thing that killed us the most was missing serves."
The Lady Tigers missed a total of seven serves on the night and El Dorado Springs was able to capitalize, pulling away just enough to earn the victory.
Mariah Mock finished that match with team highs in kills with 10 and blocks with three while Lauren Klinksick recorded eight digs. Allie Irwin led the Lady Tigers with 10 assists and five points.
The Lady Bulldogs' JV had similar luck on the night as they needed three sets to do it, but ultimately knocked off Nevada 11-25, 25-20, 23-25.
Monday's return to Wynn Gymnasium was a much different story from that match as the Lady Tigers were able to keep Seneca on their heels all night, earning a relatively easy win. The second set let-down that has plagued them all year came back once again, but Seneca was unable to mount enough of a charge to take advantage and ultimately fell by the final scores of 25-15 and 25-22.
It looked as though the match may be a close one early as the two teams traded points to start off the first set, but Cassidy Lowery had other ideas as she went back and served four consecutive points to give the Lady Tigers a 7-2 lead heading into a Seneca timeout. Lowery wasn't done as she was able to extend the run to nine after the timeout thanks to the first five aces of the night.
The Lady Indians attempted to make a comeback late in the set as they mounted a 5-0 run to work their way back within seven at 20-13 after Lowery began clearing her bench, but that was as close as they got. The Lady Tigers held their ground and eventually went on a 4-0 run to win the opener by a final score of 25-15.
"First game, we kind of took control and were able to get some other kids in," Lowery said. "They had a little rough start, but they came through and held them off in the first game, which I'm glad to see."
The second set was an entirely different scenario as the Lady Tigers began to loosen up and relax maybe a bit too much. After the two teams traded points to stay even early, the Lady Tigers went on a 6-0 run that was led by Mock with her only ace of the night, but Seneca refused to go down without a fight as they answered with a 6-0 run of their own to tie the score at 10-10.
Nevada eventually worked their way back out to a four-point lead with a series of two-point runs, but Seneca answered right back with a 5-0 run to take the lead at 18-17. The Lady Tigers were able to gain a slight edge down the stretch, however, scoring seven of the last 12 points to take a 25-22 victory.
Mock finished a team-high four blocks on the night while Melanie Messick wasn't far behind and Blaine Domer added a rare block of her own. The two teams combined for a total of 14 aces on the night, nine of which went Nevada's way.
Lowery led the way with five of those aces while Mock and Megan Harper had two each.
"It was just one of those games that's hard to stay up for," Lowery said. "That's what happened to us in the second game, we kind of lost our enthusiasm and were kind of just going through and they got a little more excited."
The Lady Tigers' JV had similar luck on the night as they were able to take down Seneca in two sets as well by a final score of 25-17 in both sets.
With that win, the Lady Tigers improved their record to 8-7 on the year and are now set to be back in action tonight as they host Ash Grove with the freshman match scheduled to start at 5 p.m., followed by the varsity and junior varsity matches, inside Wynn Gymnasium.