Lady Tigers romp past Pine Tree in four sets

TEXARKANA, Texas — Texas High set fire to the court by raining down powerful kills and defeated Pine Tree, 25-21, 23-25, 26-24, 25-22, in a District 15-5A volleyball match at the Tiger Center on Friday.

“The girls did well making adjustments,” Lady Tigers head coach Melissa Trotter-Hardy said. “We have one of our hitters back and we are missing one. So the team is trying to do something different, which is win, until we get our other hitter back. They did a good job staying focused tonight. I am proud of them for pulling out the win and for working well together.

“I was really proud of my hitter, Cashlin Gooden, coming back. She came back from an injury and had quite a few kills on the outside. She had some aces, too.”

Gooden finished with 11 kills and 14 service points, three of which were aces, for Texas High (7-4, 6-1).

The fourth set featured just three ties at 1, 4 and 5-all. After a Lady Pirate hitting error gave the Tigers a 16-14 lead, Ashlyn Stiger took the server’s box and slapped in five consecutive points to make it 21-14.

Jaycee Kennedy had a block and a kill during the Texas High rally, while teammate Emma Pierce added a kill. Pine Tree scored three consecutive later in the set to make it a tighter match with the Tigers up 23-20.

Texas High got to match point after a Pirate serve went long and won the set on a rotation error. Stiger finished with 13 kills and a match-high 24 service points, including five aces. Kennedy had 10 kills and four blocks.

The third set was the most hotly contested set of the match and featured seven ties at 1, 4, 10, 13, 15 and 19-all. Texas High played mostly even keel with Pine Tree until it earned the serve back at 25-24. A Pirate hitting error led to the set win for the Tigers.

Valeria Perez took serve in the second set for Texas High with the Tigers down 23-20. Perez served in three straight to knot the set at 23-all. But Pine Tree earned back the serve and hit a winner down the left baseline for the set clincher.

The first set had seven ties at 5, 6, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21-all. Kennedy hit in a tip for a winner to tie the set at 21-all. Perez took to the service line and served in four consecutive to give Texas High the win. A Gooden kill brought it to set point, and a Pirate hitting error ended the set.

Logan Pilgreen had 19 service points, including seven aces, and six kills for the Tigers. Lauren Allred had 19 assists, Kaitlyn Williams had 16 assists, Perez had 19 service points to go with 17 digs, and Ashanti Northcross had 16 digs and 11 service points for Texas High.