Lady Blues lose in five-set heartbreaker

After last week’s 3-2 loss at Iowa Park, the Lady Blues entered Friday evening’s home rematch with more confidence. The team walked onto the court knowing they can win. Despite the same result, a 3-2 loss, the post-match feelings were different from 10 nights earlier. Rather than feeling happy they pushed the Lady Hawks to five sets, the Lady Blues were not happy with their fifth-set performance and their 25-20, 27-25, 20-25, 18-25, 17-15 finish.

Friday’s match mirrored the Oct. 5 meeting in a lot of ways. Both were competitive and taking advantage of mistakes was key.

In the opening set, the Lady Blues held small leads in the early portion of the set but could not gain a lead larger than two points. After a kill by Emma Parker, the Lady Blues took advantage of a double by the Lady Hawks and a kill by Emilee Gordy to take a 14-12 lead. Back-to-back errors quickly vanquished that lead and it was the last lead held by the Lady Blues in the opening set. The Lady Hawks scored on a service ace and was aided by three errors to take a three-point lead that grew by as much as five points.

The second set was the set that got away. The Lady Blues quickly took a three-point lead at 4-1. Trinity Gregory scored on two kills and was aided by two errors by the Lady Hawks. The Lady Hawks were then given three points on errors as well as scoring on three straight kills to take a 7-4 lead. The Lady Blues eventually drew even at 10-10 and took an 11-10 lead after an error by the Lady Hawks.  The Lady Hawks battle to multiple two-point leads and the Lady Blues fought back to draw even. The two teams were even as late as 25-25. The Lady Blues committed back-to-back errors to give up the set.

For the rest of the story, see the Oct. 20 edition of The Graham Leader.