Lady Tigers drop opener to Skyview

The Mountain Home Lady Tigers dropped their season opening volleyball match at Skyview last Thursday night, losing to the Lady Hawks in three, 13-25, 13-25, 15-25.

Brandie Riggs led Mountain Home with nine assists. Dani Dean had five kills and Sammy Dodge and Hannah Zamora both had three digs.

For their first effort of the season, Mountain Home Lady Tiger volleyball coach Sarah DeVore saw some good things from her Lady Tigers.

"I think we saw a lot of positive things that match. We started out slow and unfamiliar with our teammates in certain lineups, and that's to be expected in the first match. There were moments when we'd get four or five-point runs, and then they'd just kind of let up, so those things will definitely improve throughout the season.

"The girls did have moments where they started to communicate together and work well together, and we'll get used to pushing through those 13-point type scores and push on and get into the 20s."

The Lady Tigers competed in the Kuna Classic at Kuna on Friday and Saturday. Friday's pool play had the teams play two games to 25, and those results helped set up Saturday's tournament bracket play.

The Lady Tigers opened pool play Friday by taking two games from Glenns Ferry. They then nearly split with both Garden Valley and Skyview, but lost both games to each.

Saturday saw the Lady Tigers receive a first-round bye in the consolation bracket before meeting New Plymouth and losing to them. Mountain Home came back to close out the day with a win over Weiser.

"That was a really good tournament for us to have early on in the season," said Coach DeVore. "The girls came out a little more relaxed and comfortable on the court and played well together.

"Our intensity level was still a little low. We managed to beat Glenns Ferry, and nearly split with Garden Valley and Skyview, who actually went on the championship round and Garden Valley won it. We competed well with teams that did very well in that tournament, so a lot of positives came out of that tournament.

"Dani Dean had an excellent tournament, as well as Sammy Dodge, and Hannah Zamora really stepped it up on defense for us, and there were moments of greatness from each player individually. Now we've just got to be consistent."

The Lady Tigers played their home opener last (Tuesday) night against Nampa, and travel to Emmett tomorrow (Thursday) night.