Lady Tigers notch win in season-opener

It was a tie this past week for the St. Regis High Lady Tigers volleyball players. 

In their first two Western 13C Conference volleyball matches, St. Regis opened with a 3-0 sweep of Two Eagle River, then fell to always tough Valley Christian 3-1 in a hard-fought match two days later. 

The Lady Tigers opened their week and 2024 conference season when they hosted Two Eagle River last Tuesday evening. 

Against the Lady Eagles, the Lady Tigers took a quick 2-0 lead and never looked back in the first set.  By mid-set St. Regis was up 15-7, thanks to their hustle and overall effort.  They extended that lead to 24-9 before wrapping up the first set win 25-9 with a return shot the Lady Eagles could not handle. 

In the second set, St. Regis went up 3-0, then withstood a Two Eagle rally before stabilizing their play and forging ahead for a 15-10 advantage. That lead quickly grew to 21-11 on the way to a 25-14 set two victory and a 2-0 match lead. 

The third set was almost a copy of set number two.  The Lady Tigers roared out to a 7-2 lead, then held off a Two Eagle rally that closed the gap to 10-8 in favor of St. Regis.  The Lady Tigers regrouped, halted the rally and took control with a 15-10 lead. 

They boosted that lead to 20-13 and went on to win the third and deciding set three, 25-15 to give them a 3-0 sweep. 

Last Thursday St. Regis hit the road for a match with always tough Valley Christian where they jumped out to a 5-2 first set win.  They would never trail in the opening set as they held off the Lady Eagles from Missoula and recorded a 25-18 first set win and a 1-0 match advantage. 

Valley Christian got off to 2-0 and 4-2 leads in the second set before the Lady Tigers tied the score at four and took the lead, 5-4.   The Lady Eagles came back and tied the score at five, then built a 13-9 lead by mid set. 

Valley Christian led 20-16 went they ran off three straight points to go up 23-16, on their way to a match evening 25-17 set two win. 

In the pivotal third set, the host Lady Eagles flew out to a 7-0 lead before St. Regis got rolling.  By the middle of the set, Valley Christian turned a 14-8 lead into a 21-11 advantage en route to a 25-14 win and a 2-1 match lead. 

The Lady Eagles won the fourth set, 25-18, to complete the 3-1 match win, giving them a win in their season opener. 

Next up for Lady Tigers is a game this Thursday (Sept 12) in Noxon against the Lady Devils.  They return home Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. for JV and varsity games against Granite County.