Tigerettes sweep rival Thorndale
CASEY GEORG Special to the Press
THRALL — The Thrall Tigerettes continued their dominance of District 26-2A Saturday with a 28-26, 25-17, 25-12 sweep of their long-time rivals, the Thorndale Lady Dogs. The win ran the Tigerettes’ season record to 23-7, and their district record to 4-0, and also marked their 40th consecutive district win, dating back to 2019.
It appeared, at least in the first set, that Thrall’s streak might come to an end. The Lady Dogs took the floor with a lot of energy and momentum and were fully prepared to hand the Tigerettes their first district loss in four years.
“We knew that Thorndale would come in here ready to play,” said Thrall Coach Bethany Grissom.
“They always get up for us, just like we do for them.”
The teams battled to a 10-10 tie. Emily Reeves led the Lady Dogs with three kills, while Brynn Leschber, Ellie Schmidt, and Melaina Grissom led the Tigerettes’ attack.
But, the momentum was about to take a swing to the Thrall side of the court.
A trio of Thorndale miscues gave the Tigerettes a 14-11 advantage, and consecutive kills by Amber Kevil made the score 16-11. But, just when it appeared the Tigerettes were poised to pull away, back came Thorndale. The Lady Dogs chipped away at the Thrall lead and Hadley Meaders’ ace knotted the score at 23. The teams traded points, with neither seeming to gain the upper hand, but when Thorndale was whistled for four hits, the Tigerettes were in position to take the set. Melaina Grissom’s kill to the back corner sealed the opening set win for Thrall.
“I’m proud of how the girls battled after losing the lead,” Coach Grissom said.
Thrall started the second set with a 3-0 run, but the Lady Dogs battled back to trim the lead to 6-5 on a Reeves ace. The teams went back and forth over the next few points, but the Tigerettes seized the momentum following a Melaina Grissom kill. Grissom also got the serve for Thrall, and using a combination of Thorndale errors, and strong net play from Kevil and Leschber, the Tigerettes surged out to an 18-8 lead.
Thorndale never seriously challenged after that, and another Melaina Grissom kill gave Thrall a two-setto- none lead.
The Tigerettes got off to a bit of a slow start in the final set, but once they settled into a groove, the outcome was inevitable. scoring surges
the Tigerettes an 18-9 lead, Leschber five straight the lead grown to 23-9. kill gave the match point, Melaina Grissom finished off the Lady with an ace.
Thrall opened second half district play Tuesday when hosted the Bartlett Lassies.
Tigerettes will travel to Granger Saturday, before stepping out of district to host the Milano Lady Eagles on October 17.
Thrall High School varsity volleyball senior Karly Pesantes digs the ball on Sept. 26 during the Tigerettes home district match against Granger High School.
Photo by Larry Pelchat
