Lady Tigers win first match of the season

It came over three weeks later than expected, but the Mountain Home Lady Tigers picked up their first SIC 4A conference volleyball win last Thursday night at Caldwell, two nights after a 3-0 loss to Bishop Kelly at home.

Bishop Kelly 25, 25, 25

Mountain Home 16, 19, 17

The Lady Tigers had trouble getting any consistency going last Tuesday night against Bishop Kelly in Lloyd Schiller Gymnasium, losing in three.

Neither Mountain Home nor Bishop Kelly could get a serve in at the beginning of game one.

The Lady Knights finally started hitting theirs, but Mountain Home was only one for seven after their six servers competed their first round of serving. They ended the game 10 of 17, while Bishop Kelly hit 19 of 23.

There were four ties in the game, the last at 10-10, as Bishop Kelly went on a 15-6 run from there to win the first game, 25-16.

The Lady Tigers took an early lead in game two, but their last lead was 5-4. There were six ties, the last at 15-15, with Bishop Kelly winning, 25-19.

Game three saw Mountain Home jump out to a 2-0 lead, but they lost it at 2-3, and never led again, dropping behind by 10, at 9-19. Paula Doerr's serving led a charge that brought them

back to within five, at 14-19, but they would come no closer, losing 17-25.

"We just never got into it," said Lady Tiger volleyball coach Heather Cherry after the match.

"We never looked like the team that we are. We can play a lot better than I know we played tonight. We can play a lot more intense, we can talk a lot better, and cover the holes a lot better. We just never got it together, never clocked."

For the night, Mountain Home was only 41 of 54 in serves, for 76 per cent. Bishop Kelly hit on 88 per cent of their serves.

"We've got to get our serves in," said Coach Cherry. "That's such a mental error that there's no sense whatsoever of not being able to hit the ball over the net into the court, and so that's just something we've got to mentally become stronger about.

"And hustling and beating the ball to an empty space, we've just got to get to doing that. The season's almost over and we're still struggling with some of those basic concepts, so it's disappointing. I thought it'd be a lot closer."

Paula Barrientos had 13 assists against Bishop Kelly. Jordana Price had 11 kills and three blocks. Paula Doerr had five service points on nine of 10 serves, with three aces. Ali Hillman had five service points and three kills, and Dani Dean had four kills.

Mountain Home 25, 25, 21, 25

Caldwell 19, 19, 25, 22

It is finally over -- the anticipation of when the first conference volleyball win would come for the Mountain Home Lady Tigers.

Two nights after a dismal effort against Bishop Kelly, the Lady Tigers won in four at Caldwell, winning words of praise from Coach Cherry for their efforts.

"Finally a win! It wasn't the prettiest, we still mixed some serves, but we were able to play with a little more intensity than we have been, so that was a really good thing!"

Paula Barrientos had 23 assists on the night. Jordana Price had 15 kills and four blocks, and Dani Dean had 12 kills and two blocks. Paula Doerr served well, getting in eight serves in a row during one stretch.

The Lady Tigers took a 1-11 conference record to Vallivue last (Tuesday) night, and close out their regular season schedule tomorrow (Thursday) night at home against Nampa for Senior Night.

Coach Cherry hopes her Lady Tigers can settle down and play like they are capable of playing the rest of the season.

"They were pretty excited about winning. It was like we were all holding our breath for weeks and now we're finally able to exhale, and now maybe be able to play the way they can."

The District III 4A Volleyball Tournament begins Oct. 18 at Nampa High School.