The Lady Indians took a quick win over Lakeview on Tuesday night to advance to the Region 4-AAA Championship, where they fell in a 3-set thriller to #4-ranked Loganville Christian.
In the Lakeview match, TFS won 19-25, 25-11, 15-12. It took a big comeback for #8-ranked Tallulah Falls to win their 11th straight match, which was two wins shy of tying the school record.
“We started very slowly, never really waking up in the first set,” says coach Matt Heyl. “Then Margalida’s [Amengual Sanchez] serve came alive in the second set and really got us in motion.”
Everyone got going, including Laura Ruiz Rendon, Becca Heyl, and Julia Smith passing well. Sanchez and Chesney Tanksley set well. Lily Smith, Heyl, Shelby Whisnant, and Ca’Rin Swinton hit well, and Jace Ibemere was solid at the net.
“At the end of the third set, we struggled to put it away, but finally did,” added Heyl.
In the Region Championship match, TFS won 25-13 in the opening set, but dropped the second 13-25 and the third 5-15.
“We played probably our best set of the year in the first set,” says Heyl. “Shelby started us off with some strong serves and that got us rolling. Everyone else caught the serving fever and we had one of the best serving performances I’ve ever seen.”
Lily Smith, Swinton, and Ibemere did a great job putting up a block on LCA’s star hitter to slow them down and let the TFS defense make a lot of digs. In the second set, LCA got off to an equally impressive start, and TFS couldn’t find its way back into the match.
The Lady Indians are now 23-15 on the season and make it seven straight years with a Region Runner-Up or Region Championship.
