Lady Tigers end season on sour note

The Mountain Home Lady Tigers closed out their regular season volleyball schedule on a losing note, losing in three straight games to Emmett last Tuesday night in Lloyd Schiller Gymnasium.

It was Senior Night, with seven Mountain Home Lady Tiger seniors playing their final volleyball match before the home crowd.

Despite the emotion of the Senior Night celebration, Mountain Home seemed to come out flat in the first game, falling behind 8-0 before finally scoring. The Lady Tigers then battled back to tie the game at 22-22, but Emmett scored the last three points for a 25-22 win.

Mountain Home started stronger in the first game and led at one point, 5-3, before a 12-1 Emmett run put the Lady Tigers down 6-15. They managed to cut the deficit to six, 9-15, but a 9-2 run by Emmett made it 24-11. Mountain Home managed to scored four straight points before Emmett ended it 25-15.

In the third game, Mountain Home managed to tie the game at 1-1, 2-2 and 3-3, before the Lady Huskies went on a 9-2 run to lead 12-5. From there, Mountain Home never was able to get any closer than four points and lost the third game 19-25.

Mountain Home Lady Tiger volleyball coach Rachele Asbury said mistakes did them in.

"Just a few mental mistakes, a few missed serves, a few balls hit in the net just to bring us down for several points in a row, and it would take a little bit for us to get going again. "

Asbury liked the way they battled back in the first game from the 8-0 deficit to tie the game at 22-22, but said once again it was a case of not finishing.

Blas Lord led the Lady Tigers with 11/13 serves, six service points, three kills and two digs. Nickayla Skinner was 9/9 on serves, had four service points, an ace, 14 assists, a kill and seven digs. Tanya McKenzie was 8/8 on serves, had four service points, two kills, and 14 digs. Arlene Futch was 8/10 on serves, had three service points and two aces, five kills, and 13 digs. Shelby Roberts was 7/9 on serves, with four service points, two kills and four digs. Caitlin Kreyche was 2/3 on serves, had six kills, a block and three digs. Dylan Dean was 1/1 on serves, Alexis Ruffing had seven digs and Lindsay Sessions had four digs.

The Lady Tigers finished their conference schedule winless in 14 matches, but as they go into the District III 4A Tournament Coach Asbury feels there's not a team in the district that they cannot beat -- it just depends on the girls' efforts and attitudes.

The Lady Tigers opened the District III 4A Volleyball Tournament Monday night at Columbia against the top-seeded Lady Wildcats, who went 14-0 in conference this year. Results were not available a press time. The Lady Tigers played again last night, either at Skyview or Bishop Kelly, depending upon who won or lost.

The District Tournament continues tonight and tomorrow night at Middleton, with the third place and championship matches tomorrow night.