The Tioga Lady Bulldogs and Collinsville Lady Pirates volleyball teams met for the second time this season Tuesday night, with the Lady Bulldogs sweeping the Lady Pirates 3-0 and taking the season series.
Tioga used the energy from a packed crowd, which was standing room only on their side, to take control of the match, outscoring Collinsville 75-48 over the match’s three sets.
“We did a great job tonight,” Tioga head volleyball coach Trevin Robinson said. “Coming into it you hear about Collinsville being a big rival, so for us to be able to sweep them both times this year, going 6-0 in sets [and] 2-0 in the match play, that’s a really big deal for us.”
The opening period was hotly contested, with Tioga taking an early 5-point lead and finding themselves up 19-14 midway through the first set.
The Lady Bulldogs focused through the raucous energy permeating Collinsville’s gym and used it to batter the Lady Pirates’ defense until they broke through, winning the first set 25-18.
Tioga continued to press the gas pedal in the second set, taking it 2516, and pulled away even more in Set 3, winning 25-14.
“We passed really well in serve receive,” Robinson said. “For us that’s the one thing you can control: serving and serve-receive. Our motto is ‘If you can win that part of the game, you can win every single game you play in.’ That allows us to be aggressive in that area, minimize the errors and be really good in serve receive.”
Outside hitter Kyndall Whitley led the Lady Bulldogs with 11 kills, followed by middle blocker Kennedy Slay, who added 9 kills, and middle blocker Madison Mc-Donald, who finished with 8 kills.
Libero Bella Dennis led the defense with 11 digs, while setters Ella Norwood and Sadie Bates combined for 27 assists.
McDonald, who helped set the tone early for Tioga with her energetic play, credited the win to the Lady Bulldogs’ mindset coming into the match against their rivals.
“Everyone brought the energy tonight because you already beat them once, [and] we really wanted to beat them again,” she said. “We swept them at home and had the same mentality as we did last time, just to come out, fired up, and ready to win.”
Defensive specialist Kenzee Powers echoed her teammate’s thoughts on getting the win over the Lady Pirates.
“It felt so good,” she said. “People who aren’t from here may not understand, but Collinsville has always been our rival, and after playing multiple sports here in Tioga, being able to beat them is an unbelievable feeling.”
Tioga will wrap its regular season in a rematch against the 25-11 Whitewright Lady Tigers at home, and Robinson said he hopes his team takes away a valuable lesson after the win.
“The biggest thing for us is just showing that it’s fun to win tough games,” he said. “That was a really good team, and we played well, so it’s fun to win tough games. We’re in a spot now where we’ve got Whitewright on Friday, and the winner of that wins district, and after that is the playoffs, so every game from here on out has a really huge meaning, [but] we like the pressure.”
On the other side, Collinsville head volleyball coach Savannah Fields said her team played hard despite the loss.
“It’s always a little surprising to see your team, because one day they can show up completely perfect, another day they could be shattering to pieces, and then some days they show up and it’s a happy medium,” she said. “Tonight wasn’t a hundred percent for us, but I definitely saw lots of effort and growth. Especially with a bunch of girls going to cross country regionals today. It says something to go out and run a cross country meet and then come play volleyball tonight.”
The loss leaves Collinsville sitting third in the district behind Tioga with a 2512 record, but Fields said she hopes her team can find a silver lining as they prepare to close their regular season against Sam Rayburn on Friday.
“One thing I hope the girls take away from tonight is that even though we lost, we shouldn’t feel like we’re at a loss as a team,” she said. “They tried their best but didn’t succeed, and it’s OK to hold your head up high.”
