Lady Tigers stumble at net against Skyview, Kuna

The Mountain Home Lady Tigers dropped a couple of conference volleyball matches last week, losing to Skyview and Kuna.

Skyview 3, Mountain Home 0

The Mountain Home Lady Tigers started slow last Tuesday, and didn't really start hitting their rhythm until the third game, but by then, it was a case of too-little, too-late, as they lost to Skyview in three straight games, 10-25, 15-25, 21-25, in Lloyd Schiller Gymnasium in Mountain Home.

Skyview led all the way in the first game, with the score tied once at 3-3. The Lady Hawks went on a 10-0 run after going up 14-9 and won 25-10.

Mountain Home led early, 2-0, in the second game, but a 14-2 run by Skyview put the Lady Hawks in control, 14-4. The closest the Lady Tigers got after that was within seven a couple times before Skyview won 25-15.

The third game had four lead changes and five ties. The last lead for Mountain Home was 6-5 and the last tie was at 11-11. Skyview stretched its lead out to seven. Mountain Home clawed back to within three on a couple occasions, the last at 21-24, before the Lady Hawks scored the final point for a 25-21 win and a 3-0 sweep.

"We definitely struggled in the first two sets," said Mountain Home Lady Tigers volleyball coach Jill Peterson after the match. "We had trouble connecting our setters to our hitters. We definitely have some things we are going to be working on in practice, getting those sets a little more consistent for our hitters."

Demery Dean and Jessica Ruffing both had six kills, Sable Lohmeier had four blocks, and Ksyenya Peterson had four service aces and 12 assists.

Kuna 3, Mountain Home 0

The Lady Tigers hosted Kuna Thursday evening in conference volleyball in Lloyd Schiller Gymnasium. They battled the Lady Kavemen tough, but lost in three straight games, 20-25, 14-25 and 21-25.

Mountain Home played its best ball against Kuna in the third game, leading 3-0 and holding its biggest lead at 9-4, but a 14-3 run by the Lady Kavemen put them up by six. The Lady Tigers did claw back within one, 19-20, but ended up losing the game 21-25 and the match in three straight.

"We definitely were up and down," Coach Peterson said. "That second set was pretty rough. We're running a new offense tonight, switching things up little bit to try and get some more consistency with our setters and our hitters, so I think they're getting in the groove with that.

"The third set definitely went a little more smoothly," the coach added. "We're looking forward to seeing them again, because we definitely want a rematch."

Jessica Ruffing had seven kills and two service aces. Mattie Bennett had six kills, Sable Lohmeier had five kills and three blocks and Demery Dean had three kills and four service aces.

This week the Lady Tigers have two conference matches, Tuesday night at Caldwell and Thursday night at home against Middleton.