Lady Tigers defeat Noxon during pink night
<p><strong>Courtney Cheesman taps the ball past one of Noxon’s defenders during their second to last game of the normal season.</strong></p>
ST. REGIS – After an intense four set game, the Lady Tigers came out on top in their game against the Noxon Lady Red Devils.
The game started close with St. Regis pulling ahead early. While Noxon kept close, The Lady Tigers kept two to three points ahead. The home team pulled ahead to a strong lead, but the Lady Red Devils were able to pull back and close back to being two points behind. St. Regis pulled back ahead and ended the set with a score of 25-20.
In the second set, the Noxon girls scored first and quickly pulled ahead to a lead. St. Regis started to pull back, but they were not able to keep the opposition from grabbing a win with a score of 25-16.
The third set was extremely close. The Lady Tigers came out ahead with the Noxon girls not far behind. Noxon pulled back to tie the score before pulling ahead themselves. St. Regis tied the game themselves, but Noxon pulled ahead again. The Lady Tigers kept close, before tying the score at 23 points and pulling ahead for a 25-23 win.
St. Regis continued with the rally into the fourth set, gaining an early lead. Noxon closed in and tied the score. The home team regained the lead, but the Lady Red Devils were able to bring it to another tie. It was a deadlock of defenses as the teams battled to get ahead; the Lady Tigers eventually pulled back ahead, leaping out to a 25-16 win.
Lady Tigers Head Coach Jen Pruitt felt the game went well. She noted the girls had shown improvement in how they placed their serves, which was something they had been working to improve on during practices. However, she also felt they were a little sluggish with some of their plays.
While the team played well as a whole, Pruitt noted Justice Tate got in some good hits, continuing her history of good plays at the net.
With the district conference coming up this week, Pruitt recalled how close this conference was. She felt a number of teams were in the running for the top places this year.
“There’re probably four or five teams that could take that first place slot,” she said. “I think it’s up in the air, honestly; I think it’ll be a fight to the end.”
The coach noted the team was still tending to ‘stay put and watch the game’ while they were on the court. As a result, they have been trying to improve their footwork and move to get balls as they go to openings.