Lady Tigers finish season with three straight losses

The Mountain Home Lady Tigers saw their volleyball season come to a close last week with losses to Caldwell, Skyview and Nampa.

Caldwell 25, 25, 21, 25

Mountain Home 22, 18, 25, 19

Mountain Home had a tough time getting its game going Oct. 8, losing to the Lady Cougars from Caldwell three games to one in Lloyd Schiller Gymnasium.

The first game went back and forth, with 13 ties, the last one at 22-22, before Caldwell scored the final three points to win 25-22.

In the second game, the Lady Tigers never led and had four ties, the last one at 6-6, before Caldwell pulled away for a 25-18 win.

Mountain Home led all the way in game three and built up a 16-10 lead before going on to claim a 25-21 win.

The fourth game saw Mountain Home lead early, but Caldwell took the lead at 4-3 and went on to a 25-19 win to claim the match, three games to one.

"The girls played really well tonight," said Mountain Home coach Steve Mau. "I was really surprised the way they bounced back that third set. The fourth set, we just didn't get the calls to go our way, but overall, I'm really proud of the girls. They did really well tonight."

Ksyenya Peterson led Mountain Home in assists, with 24. Jacci Cristobal had 10 kills, Selena Foster had nine kills and 18 digs, and Tessa Pachner had four kills and was 10/11 serving with three aces.

Skyview 25, 25, 25

Mountain Home 9, 13, 15

The Lady Tigers hosted unbeaten Skyview for Senior Night last Wednesday night in Lloyd Schiller Gymnasium, and although Skyview kept its unbeaten record secure, Lady Tiger coach Mau thought his girls gave them a battle.

"I tell you what, looking at the stats and the scores that Skyview has put up this season, I am extremely proud of my girls. They did a great, great job against a really, really tough team. Skyview's undefeated in the district, have scored the most points in the district, and my girls held their own, so I'm really proud of them."

Selena Foster and Jacci Cristobal both had five kills for Mountain Home and Ksyenya Peterson had 14 assists.

Nampa 25, 25, 15, 25, 15

Mountain Home 27, 12, 25, 17, 3

Mountain Home, the number nine seed, and eighth-seeded Nampa played a play-in game Thursday night at Nampa to see who would get the eighth seed going into this week's district tourney. The match went a full five sets, with the host Lady Bulldogs coming away with the win, beating Mountain Home 15-3 in the fifth and deciding set.

Selena Foster had 11 kills, Emma Wenger had eight kills and two blocks.

"It was another tough loss," said Coach Mau of the match and reflecting back on his first season as head coach of the Lady Tigers. "The girls had bouts of greatness shadowed by too many unforced errors.

"I'm proud of the girls for the way they stuck to it throughout a tough season of close losses. I'm also proud of them for dealing with me for the season, as I know I'm not always the easiest coach to play for.

"I know I made a lot of mistakes this season, and will grow as a leader, despite those mistakes. I'm going to miss our seniors, but am looking forward to coaching the returning underclassmen and the new additions to our varsity team."

The loss ended the Lady Tigers' volleyball season.