Lady Tigers fall to Forney in playoff

PARIS, Texas—Forney overcame the Texas High in a Class 5A bi-district playoff volleyball match Tuesday night, winning in four, 25-9, 20-25, 25-16, 25-14, at Paris’ Wildcat Gym.

The Lady Jackrabbits (30-9) had the upper hand most of the match, courtesy the left-handed big hitter Desire Johnson who had 12 kills. Johnson had assistance from Allison Hamisher on seven of her kills. Hamisher had 13 total assists.

The Lady Tigers (26-10), who are no strangers to the playoffs, having been in the playoffs all 14 seasons under-head coach Melissa Trotter-Hardy, struggled to find a rhythm in the first set going down 25-9.

“In order to have offense you have to have good serve receive,” Tiger head coach Hardy said. “They kind of picked us apart; they knew who to serve to and where to serve. They are a really good serving team. They’re probably the best serving team we’ve dealt with all year and it was hard for us to adjust at times.”

Texas High adjusted in the second game, shooting out of the gate to a quick 4-1 lead, Halley Opry claiming the service points.

Katie Carter slammed an ace a few minutes later to maintain the Tiger lead at 10-5 and force a Forney timeout.

The timeout proved effective in disrupting the Tigers offense as the Jackrabbits clawed their way back to a knotted score at 15.

After three errors by Texas High Forney took a two point lead. The Tigers fought back, rallying to another knot at 20 where Kaitlyn Cross took point for Texas High, delivering five consecutive service points to close the set; 25-20 Tigers.

In the third match, the Tigers’ had a rough start, trailing initially 11-3. Two strings of points by Texas High allowed a the deficit to be cut to two when they reached 12-14.

Hamisher went on a service spree for Forney, scoring nine straight, six of which she earned from Tiger errors, to claim set two three for the Jackrabbits.

Forney picked up in set four where they left off in set three; Hamisher starting the Jackrabbits off on a 6-0 run.

The Tigers were never closer than four points the remainder of the final set.

“We are losing three girls but that core group of girls is coming back,” Coach Hardy said. “These juniors, that have been playing for three years together, they’ll be back next year and they’ll be much better. They can use this as a lesson: now they know how it feels, but they also know that they have to put some work in to it.”

Cross had three blocks and five kills. Treyaunna Rush finished with nine kills.

Forney advances to play the winner of Frisco Reedy and Little Elm in the area round later this week.