Lady Tigers triumph in Superior rivalry game

SUPERIOR – In one of their final games of the season, the St. Regis Lady Tigers came out on top Friday during their rivalry game against the Superior Lady Bobcats.

The game was extremely close. The Lady Bobcats scored first with the Lady Tigers close behind; Superior maintained a two-point lead for much of the set, though St. Regis was able to tie the score. However, the Lady Bobcats pulled back ahead and leapt to a strong lead. They closed the set with a score of 25-16.

St. Regis pulled ahead in the second set, leaping to an early lead. The Lady Bobcats were able to start to recover, closing until they were only six points back before St. Regis pulled ahead again. Superior was able to rally again, though, starting to close until the set closed at 25-18 to St. Regis.

The third set was intense. Both sides kept close with no clear leader being apparent. The Lady Tigers leapt ahead, though, and quickly gained a 10-point advantage. The set closed with a score of 25-13 to St. Regis. The Lady Tigers quickly pulled ahead in the fourth set again, gaining a strong 10 to one lead. Superior rallied and closed until they were only six points back; St. Regis had their own rally though and closed the game at 25-13.

Overall, both coaches were happy with their team’s performance. After the first set, Superior Head Coach Beth Janney said things did not click well for the Lady Bobcats. While they had the strong early win, the game did not come together well for them to get wins in subsequent sets. She said they would need to work on capitalizing on strong wins as they prepare for divisionals.

While it was a strong game overall, some of Superior’s players earned some good stats throughout the game. Janney said Marissa Koke had a very good game; the senior had good plays at the net and in the back row. The coach noted this was particularly good to see since the back row is not Koke’s normal position.

“She did a good job of looking at the court and seeing where to hit,” Janney said.

Next week, the Lady Bobcats will be hosting teams from across the region for the divisional tournament. At the time of writing, the teams did not have brackets for which teams they would be facing first.

In the week leading up to the tournament, the girls have been working to follow through with strong early wins and keep the momentum going through three sets. 

Pruitt was happy with how everything went. She said, while the girls started kind of cold, they warmed up as the game went on and fought hard for the win. The rivalry made for a particularly good game.

“It’s always good competition when we come down here,” Pruitt said.

She also felt the team came together well as a team. She could not see any stand outs among them with everyone contributing strong plays.

Next week, the Lady Tigers will also be at the divisional tournament. During practices this week, they have been working to build their confidence and not second-guess themselves or their plays as much.

The Friday game was also the team’s Senior Night, where they recognize the graduating seniors and their time on the team. Janney said she was going to miss Koke and Ewoniuk; both were among the first girls Janney coached in volleyball and hold a special place for her.

“They were my first, so I’m going to miss those guys more than anything,” she said.

Both have also been great players and wonderful assets to the team. Ewoniuk has been a strong leader for the team and Koke worked hard, fighting to get what needed to be done. The coach also recalled how much fun they were to have in practices and everyone on the team would miss them.