Lady Tigers earn first conference win

The Mountain Home Lady Tigers picked up their first conference volleyball win of the season when they beat Middleton in five games last Tuesday night in Lloyd Schiller Gymnasium.

Mtn. Home 3

Middleton 2

The Lady Tigers came through with a conference win over Middleton last week at home.

They won the first game, 25-21, then dropped the second game, 17-25, before battling back from a deficit to win game three, 25-20, but then dropped game four, 21-25.

Mountain Home led all the way in game five, taking it, 15-12, and the match, 3-2.

"I'm very proud of the way the girls came out against Middleton," said Lady Tiger volleyball coach Sarah DeVore. "They were calm and collected on the court, and when they got down, they battled back and took it to five games."

Kuna 3

Mtn. Home 0

The Middleton and Kuna matches were part of a tri-match night in Lloyd Schiller Gymnasium. After Mountain Home beat Middleton, Kuna then faced the Lady Vikings and beat them, 3-1.

Mountain Home then faced Kuna in the nightcap, and played well in the first game, leading by seven points on two occasion, the last time at 18-11. They still led, 24-22, but could not get the final point, Kuna scoring the final four to win, 26-24.

In game two, the Lady Tigers fell behind 6-18 before battling back within five, at 18-23 and 19-24, but Kuna scored the final point to win 25-19.

Game three saw Kuna take a 10-3 lead. The Lady Tigers battled back to within three, 13-16, but were outscored 9-2 the rest of the way to lose the game, 15-25, and the match 0-3.

"We definitely dominated the first game, even although the score's not going to indicate that," said Coach Devore. "Once Kuna came back, we were never really able to regain our composure after that. Once our expectations get a little higher and a little more consistent, we should see great matches like we saw against Middleton.

"I was really impressed with the way Brandie Riggs showed her leadership tonight, her composure on the court, forcing mistakes by the other team. I thought Chantell Crane came alive offensively, and that was important in both the Middleton and Kuna matches, and when we get a little more consistent on defense, we should compete well with other teams."

Katie Price went 17/17 in serves, with 11 service points and an ace. Emily Moranda, Chantell Crane and Hannah Zamora each had five kills, Zamora also was 8/8 on serves, with five service points. Brandie Riggs was 8/9 serving, with three aces and 16 assists. Nickayla Skinner had three kills and Sara Baldridge had two aces.

Bishop Kelly 3

Mtn. Home 1

The Lady Tigers traveled to Bishop Kelly last Thursday night and battled through four games with the Lady Knights, losing 3-1.

Mountain Home won the first game, 26-24. Game two went to the Lady Knights, 25-16. Bishop Kelly won game three, 25-9, and won game four, 25-6.

Brandie Riggs had six assists, Emily Moranda had four kills, and Hannah Zamora had two kills.

The Lady Tigers have this week off for Homecoming, returning to action on Oct. 9 at home against Columbia, and closing out their regular season schedule at home against Skyview on Oct. 11.