Noxon splits volleyball matches

As local volleyball matches go, these were a couple marathons for the Noxon Lady Red Devils this past week.

The Noxon girls opened the week with a 3-2 road loss to neighborhood rival Troy on Tuesday, then finished their week with a 3-1 victory over league rival St. Regis.

Against St. Regis Saturday evening, the Red Devils and Lady Tigers locked into an evenly balanced match that could have gone either way.

The Lady Devils traded points with the Tigers throughout the first set before eventually pulling away for a 25-20 set win and a 1-0 match lead.

But St. Regis bounced right back in set number two, reversing game one’s roles and holding off Noxon for a match-squaring 25-23 win in a set that featured three ties in the middle going. That tied the match at one set each.

Things got a little easier after that as Noxon’s passing skills took control and led them to 28-15 and 25-14 wins in games three and four.

In the end, Noxon had enough energy to hang on for a 3-1 match win.

By contrast, the Lady Red Devils opened the week with a long, to the max match versus Troy.

The Lady Trojans opened the match with a 25-22 win in set one, then took a 2-0 match lead with a 25-18 set two win.

Noxon would not go away quietly and battled back for a 25-21 in the pivotal third set, pulling them within striking distance at 2 sets to 1 heading in the fourth set.

In what is volleyball’s equivalent of overtime where a team must win a set by two points, Noxon fought the Lady Trojans to a 26-24 win, squaring the match at 2-each.

That set up the fifth and deciding game, which eventually went to Troy by a 15-10 count, giving the home team a 3-2 match win.

Next up for Noxon is a match this Tuesday with Alberton, in Alberton. They stay on the road for another game versus lead-leading Charlo on October 15.