Tigers outlast Hawks
THS defeats crosstown rival PG in five sets
Fans got their money’s worth. Texas High built a 6-0 lead in the final set and defeated Pleasant Grove, 16-25, 25-22, 23-25, 25-16, 15-7, in an epic crosstown rivalry volleyball match at Hawk Gym on Tuesday.
“I am very proud of the girls,” Lady Tigers’ head coach Melissa Hardy said. “Playing five sets is always exhausting, but they hung tough. This is a big rivalry. I wasn’t worried after dropping the first set; we just started off slow. I knew they would step up, and they did a really good job on keying in on things that we have been working on.”
Treyaunna Rush served in 26 points, put down 25 kills, and made 21 assists for Texas High. Kaitlyn Cross had 15 kills, 10 blocks, and 18 service points, and teammate Vicki Willis had 21 digs and 18 service points. Olivia Lower made 14 digs, had nine kills, and served in 12 points.
“We have gotten better and better as the year has gone on, but tonight we started to hesitate,” Lady Hawk head coach Amy Collvins said. “We have been playing great teams, and we need to work more on finishing.
“In the first three sets, we played relaxed and took them out of their system. Texas High pulled us out of our game, and we didn’t go back to the game plan. We have to find a way to finish and keep our emotions in tact.”
Macey Adams had 10 service points and seven kills for Pleasant Grove. Macy Young had 13 assists, Grace Pickelman made 12 digs, Sydney Hopkins had 10 digs, Kaylee Kelley served in nine points, Madi Morris put down seven kills, and Natalie Hale added six kills for the Hawks.
After a 3-3 tie in the first set, Pleasant Grove led the rest of the way. Pickelman served in four straight points to give the Hawks a 14-6 lead. Two points later, Ella Nichols served in three to give PG an 18-8 edge.
Hale hit a tip that went down the left baseline to give the Hawks the first-set victory. Texas High committed 17 unforced errors in the first.
The second set featured 14 ties at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 20-all. Cross sent a cross-court kill down the left baseline to seal the set for the Tigers.
Set three was like a teeter totter as the points bounced back and forth. There were nine ties in the third set at 3, 4, 5, 7, 10, 11, 13, 14, and 15-all. Hale smacked a hard kill, and the Texas High block went out of bounds as the Hawks sealed the set by two points.
Lower took the serve with her team up, 14-9, and slapped in five points to give the Tigers a 10-point lead in the fourth set, 19-9. Pleasant Grove could not recover and Lower hit a tip to the middle of the floor to force a deciding fifth set.
Willis served in six straight to give Texas High an early 6-0 lead in the fifth. The Hawks, who had nine unforced errors in the fifth, never regrouped, and the match ended on a Pleasant Grove service error.
Ellison Davis slapped in 25 points to lead Texas High’s junior varsity to a 25-19, 25-16 sweep over Pleasant Grove. Logan Pilgreen had five kills and nine service points, while teammate Valeria Perez made 18 digs.
Halli Meredith served in 14 points and teammate Timia Cooks added 10 to lead Pleasant Grove’s 9th grade to a 25-14, 22-25, 25-15 victory over the Tigers.
Vanessa Perez paced Texas High with 11 service points.