The Lady Indians had been banged up and struggling to find consistency through that. Tuesday night, they put it all together and beat both Lakeview and BASA in straight sets to end a recent skid that included going 1-5 in their last six matches.
TFS beat BASA 25-20, 26-24. Despite starting off slow, Tallulah pulled away at 17-17.
“Becca [Heyl] had her best hitting night of the season,” says coach Matt Heyl. “They couldn’t stop her attack. Laura [Ruiz Rendon] and Julia [Smith] controlled the ball well to give our setters some good ones to set, and they gave some great sets.”
In the second set, TFS opened slowly again. Down 18-12 and later 22-16, the girls clawed their way back with some grit and great defense.
“Ca’Rin [Swinton] had a huge block for us, and Lily [Smith] and Becca came up big with some great kills at the end to finish it off with some great sets by Margalida [Amengual Sanchez],” adds Heyl.
In the Lakeview match, the girls won 25-20, 25-15.
“We dominated with our serve,” adds Heyl. “Chesney [Tanksley] in the first set and Shelby [Whisnant] in the second.”
It was 11-11 in the second set when Whisnant went to serve, and TFS went on a run as Lakeview couldn’t handle it.
“When they did get the ball back over the net, we attacked fiercely right back until it was 19-11,” adds Heyl. “That’s all we needed to finish them off.”
The Lady Indians are now 10-8 overall on the season and improve to 2-0 in region play after taking the one over Lakeview.
JV splits
Meanwhile, the JV team split the matches, taking a win over BASA before falling to Lakeview. The win came in straight sets, 25-18, 25-13.
Nora Mitchell dropped seven aces and Tori Crotta had six. Finlee Ridlehoover (three aces) and Keely Franks (two) contributed at the line. Crotta had three kills, while Ridlehoover had two and Mitchell one. Blocks came courtesy of Stella Bowman and Masa Ivancevic.
“Unfortunately, the girls were unable to take down Lakeview despite a valiant effort and just falling short of pushing them into a third set,” says coach Matt Crotta.
The result was a 14-25, 21-25 straight-set loss, though Mitchell had six aces and a kill. Franks, Ridlehoover, and Crotta all had two aces apiece, and Maddie Williams had a pair of blocks that converted into points for TFS.
The JV girls are now 2-6 on the season.
