The Lady Indians played their second tri-match of the opening week, this time on the road against host school Hart County and Elbert County. After a three-set loss to Hart after taking a 1-0 lead, TFS rebounded with a convincing win over Elbert County to get back in the win column.
Tallulah Falls opened up its first set against Hart County on a 7-2 run. Hart County stormed back and took a late 17-16 lead that sparked a timeout. Back-to-back kills by Ashlyn Yaskiewicz and Sarah Jennings got TFS within 19-18. Yaskiewicz later dropped in a kill to regain the Lady Indians lead at 21-20, and Addy McCoy’s ace made it 22-20 and forced Hart to call a timeout. McCoy got another ace out of the timeout, and an error by Hart put the set within one point of a win. Jennings secured it with an ace to claim the 25-20 win.
The Lady Indians trailed almost the entire second set, and dropped it 25-16, which set up a decisive third set. Hart County again took a commanding 8-2 lead in the final set. Later in the set, Jennings smashed a kill to get TFS within 12-8. After making the deficit a mere 14-12, Hart County got the next point to claim the win.
“We served and played well in the first set with some great serving from Kitty [Rodenas], Sarah [Jennings], Addy [McCoy], and Elsa [Sanchez],” says coach Matt Heyl. “Then came out a whole different team in the last two sets. That standout highlight was some solid play by Ashlyn Yaskiewicz.”
Taking on Elbert County, TFS raced out to an 9-1 lead, and the Lady Indians never looked back. Elsa Sanchez had some key kills and serves, and Jennings closed out the set with the 25-5 win. After going behind 3-1, Sanchez laced a kill down the line to give TFS a 4-3 lead, though the sides exchanged leads many times. The last tie was at 13 apiece before the Lady Indians went up for the final time. A seven-point scoring run put the match away, and McCoy had back-to-back aces to close it out with a 25-16 second set win to clinch the match.
“It was good to give everyone playing time, even our two freshman,” adds Heyl. “Elsa got some good kills playing outside hitter and so did Addy and Sarah.”
The Lady Indians move to 3-1 overall on the season, and return to the court on Tuesday at Rabun Gap in a best-of-five match.
MATCH SCORES
L 1-2 vs Hart County: 25-20, 16-25, 12-15
W 2-0 vs Elbert County: 25-5, 25-16
