Lady Tigers win thriller at Eminence

Trailing two sets and match point, the Houston High School volleyball squad would come back to defeat Eminence in five sets on the road Monday.

In the third set, trailing 23-24, the Lady Tigers fought off their first match point when a Lady Redwing sent a serve long to tie the set at 24. Five points later, HHS found itself down another match point at 26-27. This time, junior Kayla Wagner came up with a big kill to even the set at 27. The Lady Tigers would take the next two points to take the set before coming back to win the match 31-33, 19-25, 29-27, 25-15, 15-9.

“I thought we finally showed our grit and came back and fought,” said HHS head coach Julia Sloan.

With senior setter Morgan McKinney back from injury, the team can utilize Wagner as an outside hitter and back row setter. Sloan has also moved senior Makinley Aaron to the outside and junior Gracyn McNiell to libero.

“Our few adjustments that we have made in the lineup have helped,” said Sloan. “My goal is to have our two best passers on the floor passing all six rotations and have them both for defense. Hopefully this continues to be a step in the right direction.”

The Lady Tigers (8-5-1; 0-3 SCA) played Thayer Tuesday (Pink Out Night) at home. They face Liberty at home Thursday before the annual Houston Volleyball Showdown Tournament on Saturday.

MOUNTAIN GROVE

Mountain Grove’s volleyball team – led by one of the best hitters in the state – was too much for Houston’s squad last Thursday.

The Lady Tigers dropped the match in straight sets (15-25, 12-25, 18-25) despite a strong start.

“They are definitely the toughest team we will play all year,” said Sloan.

In front of an energetic Tiger Fieldhouse crowd, the Lady Tigers held off the attack of senior Raylee Stenzel – who could eclipse the state career kills record this season – to start the match.

“The first 10 points of the first set we were there. We just have to keep competing.”

With McKinney on the sidelines, the Tigers lacked offensive firepower. Still, Sloan believes the match was progress for her squad.

“I saw a lot of good things last night. We just need to put it all together.”

One of those “good things” Sloan mentioned was Wagner’s 10 assist, 11 dig performance. Aaron also contributed 5 kills and junior Hannah Ennis added 2 aces.

SALEM

Despite a strong effort throughout the match, Houston High School’s volleyball team fell short against Salem last Tuesday, losing in three sets.

Houston traveled to Salem for the conference faceoff after losing their first conference match to Willow Springs in straight sets Thursday, Sept. 19.

The visiting Lady Tigers would fall to the host Lady Tigers 20-25, 21-25, 22-25.

“We just made silly mistakes,” said Sloan. “Right now I feel like we are a roller coaster and our grit factor that we once had has disappeared.”

With McKinney out of the rotation, the team relied on Wagner for most of the setting duties, taking away Houston’s most lethal attacker.

“We passed well but our hitting errors killed us,” said Sloan.

Wagner finished the match with a well-balanced 14 digs, 16 assists and 3 aces. Aaron – who previously played libero – was asked to take on a more offensive role. She finished the match with 7 kills. Senior Carli Cummins-Drake added 3 aces.

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