Two of the Ranch Cities’ volleyball teams, the Tioga Lady Bulldogs and Pilot Point Lady Cats, faced off Sept. 4, with the Lady Bulldogs taking the win in strong fashion, three sets to none.
The Lady Bulldogs have held the edge in the series, winning the last four times the two programs have met on the hardwood, with this win marking their fifth win in a row over the Lady Cats.
“I was proud of how well we played,” Tioga head volleyball coach Trevin Robinson said. “Games against one of your cross-town rivals are always tough, [but] the girls did a good job of going out there and competing.”
Tioga hit the floor running in the opening set, outscoring Pilot Point 25-12 to take Set 1.
The Lady Bulldogs didn’t let up in the second or third set and never allowed the Lady Cats to find their footing, outscoring them 50-26 over the final two periods of play.
Middle blocker Kennedy Slay led the Lady Bulldogs with 8 kills, followed by outside hitter Kyndall Whitley, who had 4. Whitley led the defense with 11 digs, while setter Sadie Bates orchestrated Tioga’s offense with 12 assists.
The Lady Bulldogs also notched 10 serving aces in the win.
“We served the ball really well,” Robinson said. “We talk a lot about winning games behind the service line, and we felt like that's exactly what we did, [and] the goal is to build off of that moving forward.”
On the other sideline, Jessica Ledbetter, Pilot Point Lady Cats head volleyball coach, said injuries played a key part in the Lady Cats' performance.
“We were faced with some injuries, which changed up some things for us on the court, but I want us to take away from that match is that even when we are faced with unexpected hurdles, we are going to come to compete,” she said.
She added that she hopes her team is able to use the experience from the loss as they move further into district play.
“Friday wasn’t our best performance, and we have to own that,” she said. “We didn’t execute the way we know we can, especially with our communication, serve-receive, and consistency, [but] will use this match as a learning experience, [and] we’ll get back to practice, clean up the things we can control, and come back ready to compete.”
Tioga’s next matchups will be at home against Bellvue and Era on Friday, while the Lady Cats will prepare to face Savoy on the road at 5 p.m. Tuesday.
