Tigerettes keep rolling
Thrall High School varsity volleyball junior Emily Holybee digs the ball on Tuesday, Sept. 26 during the Tigerettes’ home match vs. Granger High School.
BY CASEY GEORG
Special to the Press
THRALL — The Thrall Tigerettes (21-7 overall, 2-0 District 26-2A) ran their district win-streak to 38 consecutive matches Tuesday night, after sweeping the Granger Lady Lions (12-14, 0-1) 25-14, 25-20, 25-16. “Granger has a good team and they’re well-coached,” said Thrall Coach Bethany Grissom. “We felt, coming in, that they would play us tough. The score is a little misleading because Granger played a good game.”
The two teams seemed evenly matched in the early going of the first set. Thrall led 3-0 early, but the Lady Lions, behind a pair of kills by Tessa Burton and Sofia Bernal, cut the lead to 5-3. It wasn’t until the Tigerettes mounted a 6-0 run, that Thrall was able to put some distance between them and the Lady Lions. Ellie Schmidt scored on a pair of kills in the run, giving Thrall a 12-4 lead.
Granger continued to battle, and a 6-0 run got the Lady Lions within two at 16-14, but the remainder of the set was controlled by the Tigerettes. Brynn Leschber knocked down a trio of kills, and Melaina Grissom added two more that allowed Thrall to finish the set on a 9-0 run.
The second set saw the Lady Lions continue to battle. The visitors took a 4-3 lead on a Thrall miscue, and the Tigerettes didn’t take the lead until Melaina Grissom’s kill put Thrall up 5-4. Thrall tried to pull away, but the Tigerettes couldn’t shake the tenacious Lady Lions.
“We had several long rallies that we just couldn’t close the points on,” said Granger Coach Margie Burton. “We will go back to the drawing board for our rematch, later in the second round of district play.”
Thrall eventually built a 17-10 advantage, but Granger roared back. The Lady Lions outscored the Tigerettes 6-1, with Krista Hutka and Abigail Crouch leading a charge that pulled Granger within 18-16. The Tigerettes’ defense stiffened from there, and when Schmidt blocked a Granger kill attempt, the Tigerettes held a two sets to none lead.
“I felt like we played pretty well, but Granger really pushed us in that second set,” Grissom said. “We made some mistakes, and they were able to take advantage of them and get back in it.”
While the early moments of the third set saw the teams trade points, it was an 8-0 run by the Tigerettes that swung the momentum to the Thrall side of the court. Melaina Grissom recorded four kills, and Leschber added another, to give the Tigerettes a 14-4 advantage.
The Lady Lions were able to cut the lead to six, midway through the set, solid net play, along with a handful of Granger miscues, gave the Tigerettes the sweep.
Granger will next host the Holland Lady Hornets (8-16, 0-1) on Saturday. Thrall, meanwhile, will be off Saturday but will travel to Holland on Tuesday.
