St. Regis wins battle of the Tigers
St. Regis freshman Shelby Simkins winds up a serve against the Darby Tigers during their match Saturday in St. Regis. (Chuck Bandel/MI-VP)
The St. Regis Lady Tigers won in all aspects of the battle of Tigers with Darby Saturday afternoon.
They were better servers, better setters and better defenders over the course of the game and as a result St. Regis is off to a solid 2-0 start to their 2022 Montana High School volleyball season.
The Lady Tigers swept their second straight match, beating the Darby Tigers 3-0, after dispatching the Mullan Lady Tigers by an identical score a week earlier.
Saturday the young St. Regis squad fell behind early in the first game of the Darby match, but despite trailing by as many as six points, they stayed within striking distance and took advantage of the situation when it counted most, the last points of the game.
Darby held a 14-8 lead midway through the opening game until St. Regis got things rolling and rallied to tie the score at 17-17.
They then jumped out to a lead, albeit slim and managed to hold off the determined Darby squad to secure a 25-21 game one victory.
Game two was almost reverse of the first game as St. Regis broke away from a 5-5 tie and built a lead that was at one point nine points, 16-7. In so doing the utilized their height up front and solid digging and volleying skills to coast to an somewhat easier 25-17 game two victory and a 2-0 lead in the match.
Game three was more of the same as the two teams fought to an early 5-5 tie before St. Regis’ version of the Lady Tigers moved out to an 11-6 lead and they never trailed again. Darby made one last, late run toward the end of the third game, but St. Regis held them off and posted a 25-20 win and a match sweep.
St. Regis’ lineup consists of two seniors, Macy Hill and Bailey Hutchinson, two juniors, four sophomore and one freshman.
With the win over Darby, St. Regis moved to 2-0 on the young season.
A week earlier they dispatched the Mullan, Idaho Lady Tigers in an even more convincing manner, winning all three games, 25-17, 25-15 and 25-18 in their official season opener.
And once again they fashioned a win around superior net play and the ability to maintain volleys to their advantage.
Next up for the St. Regis Lady Tigers is a road trip down Interstate 90 this Thursday where they will face Alberton, which this year resumed varsity sports after several years without any. They will then travel to Noxon for a tough match against the Lady Red Devils and standout senior Emily Brown Saturdayevening.