By ANN THARP
Special to The Leader
The Sylvan Hills Lady Bear volleyball team hosted the Jacksonville Lady Titans on Thursday in a 5A/6A District 4 match-up. The Lady Bears (11-10, 7-4) had won in straight sets at Jacksonville and got the win at home, but in a hard-fought four sets with scores of 24-26, 31-29, 26-24, and 25-18. With the loss, the Lady Titans are 6-12 overall and 6-6 in conference play.
“It was a typical Sylvan Hills, Jacksonville match,” said Sylvan Hills coach Harold Treadway.
“Every time that we’ve played them, whether it’s been conference or non-conference, we’re evenly matched. Tonight some things didn’t go our way, some things didn’t go their way, and we came out on top. It was hard-fought on both sides. She’s done a heck of a job with her team. I thought ours started out real strong, and then had a let up. In the end, I think that we did some things, we covered the ball, and we were getting some hits. I think at the end we were a little fresher.”
“It was a tough and hard-fought match,” Jacksonville coach Savannah Jacoby said. “I was pleased with set one, two, and three, not so much set four. I think they got a little tired, got a little down and couldn’t get back up from it. But overall, I’m pleased with that match, and I told them that.”
Sylvan Hills pulled out to a 11-3 lead in set one, largely on the serve of Grace Turner and kills by Anna Snyder and Tori Langley. An ace by Brittney Eskridge and a kill by Basia Brown brought Jacksonville to within 7-12, and then 12-14 on two net serves and a hitting error by the Lady Bears.
Neiagha Thomas got the ball back for Sylvan Hills with a kill, then served an ace and got two additional points on her service for a 18-12 advantage. A kill by Taylor Toombs for the Lady Titans, followed by a kill tip by Turner for Sylvan Hills, then an ace by Toombs made the score 19-16.
A kill by Cory Tessman started a four point swing by the Lady Bears. Tessman had another kill, followed by a kill by Kaelei Atkins to up the lead to 23-16. However, the Lady Titans fought back on the serve of Rebecca Brown to tie the set at 23-23. The score was also tied at 24, before a service ace by Eskridge gave Jacksonville a 25-24 lead. Set point also went to the Lady Titans for the 26-24 first set victory.
In set two, each team pulled ahead by several points at the start, but after the set was tied at 9-9, there were 16 more ties before the home team went ahead 30-29 and a kill by Lydia Young gave them the 31-29 marathon victory. Tessman and Snyder each had two kills in the set for Sylvan Hills, while Eskridge and Basia Brown each had two for Jacksonville.
Rebecca Brown gave the Lady Titans the first point of the third set with a kill. Jacksonville led 8-6, but Thomas hit a crosscourt kill to the corner for a point for the Lady Bears. The teams were tied at 8-8 before two services aces by Lindsey Holt gave the Lady Titans a 12-8 advantage.
The score was tied again at 14 before Jacksonville again jumped in front 19-14, with Eskridge and Kayla Rearden recording kills along the way. The Lady Bears bounced back and went ahead 22-20 on an ace by Tessman. An off-speed kill by Rebecca Brown tied the score again at 24 all, but Sylvan Hill scored two to take the set, 26-24.
The fourth and final set stayed close, with the score staying within two points most of the way until the Lady Bears pulled away 21-14. Jacksonville again fought back to get as close as 18-23, but hit the ball into the net and then a tip fell just wide to give the last two points to Sylvan Hills for the 25-18 final set victory.
