Lady Tigers falter at net, eliminated at district finals

The season came to an end last Wednesday night for the Lady Tigers volleyball team when they were eliminated from the District III 4A Volleyball Tournament in Lloyd Schiller Gymnasium in Mountain Home.

Bishop Kelly 3, Mountain Home 0

The Lady Tigers opened the district tourney at Bishop Kelly on Monday night, losing to the number two seeded Lady Knights from Bishop Kelly.

Mountain Home battled them tough in the first game before losing 22-25. They dropped the second game 17-25 and fell in the third game 13-25.

The Lady Tigers made 95 percent of their serves against Bishop Kelly, led by Brittany Ryan going 12/12. Hailey Belt was 10/10 serving and had a block and a kill. Krissy Elliott was 8/8 on serves and had five digs. Jessica Liercke went 7/7 serving with three kills and 11 digs.

Meanwhile, Dylan Dean was 4/5 serving with 11 assists, two kills and seven digs. Stephanie Jewell was 4/5 serving with nine digs and a kill. Jacci Cristobal had eight kills and five digs and Emilee Schetzle had one block and one kill.

Mountain Home 3, Columbia 2

Monday night's loss put the Lady Tigers in the consolation bracket with a match at Columbia on Tuesday night. The two had split, both winning on their home court during the regular season, but Mountain Home battled tough and pulled out the match in five games to keep its season alive.

Mountain Home battled Columbia tough in the first game, but came up short 28-30. The Lady Tigers won the second game 26-24. Game three went to Columbia, 25-15, but Mountain Home came back to win game four, 25-20, to force a game five, and won that 15-10 to win the match and eliminate Columbia from the tournament.

Stephanie Jewell led the Lady Tigers serving, hitting 24 of 25 serves. She had three assists, three kills and 14 digs.

Brittany Ryan was 16/17 serving. She served three aces and had 19 digs. Krissy Elliott was 14/15 serving with 12 digs. Dylan Dean was 13/17 serving with an ace, 34 assists, three kills and 20 digs. Jessica Liercke was 12/14 serving and had nine kills and 17 digs. Hailey Belt was 8/10 serving with a block, nine kills and nine digs. Jacci Cristobal had 12 kills and Emilee Schetzle had one block and three kills.

Kuna 3, Mountain Home 1

The Columbia win kept the Lady Tigers alive in the tournament, with a chance to play at home against Kuna. It took Mountain Home three games to put together a win, and they battled tough, but lost in four games.

Mountain Home dropped behind early in the first game. The Lady Tigers managed to tie it at 5-5 but fell behind and were unable to rally, losing 17-25.

The Lady Tigers fell behind early in the second game and managed to tie it at 8-8 before falling behind by six, 11-17. They did manage to cut the deficit to one, 18-19, but Kuna scored the final six points for a 25-18 win.

In the third game, Mountain Home got its game clicking. After trailing early, 4-7, they went on an 18-3 run to increase the lead to 22-10. Mountain Home won the game 25-18. Game four had 13 ties and 13 lead changes. Mountain Home trailed 24-20 but battled back to tie the game at 24-24 and 25-25. But Kuna scored the final two points to win the game 27-25 and the match 3-1.

Brittany Ryan was 16/18 serving. She had three aces, a kill and 14 digs. Dylan Dean was 13/16 serving and had three aces, 26 assists, six kills and nine digs. Stephanie Jewell was 13/17 serving, had two kills and 17 digs. Jessica Liercke was 11/13 serving, had three blocks, seven kills and 18 digs. Dakota Dean was 9/9 serving, Krissy Elliott was 8-9 serving with nine digs. Hailey Belt was 3/4 serving with five kills and six digs. Jacci Cristobal had nine kills and one block and Emilee Schetzle had four blocks and a kill.

Coach Rachele Asbury was sad to see the season end, but thought her girls came a long way, improving during the season.

"We have some good hope for next year, with a lot of returners, and we'll see where it goes," she said.