By Dylan Wallace | The Tribune
After a three weeks of no competition, the Crothersville volleyball team returned to the court on Friday night.
The Tigers were out due to protocols with COVID-19, and their return to the court was met with some rust at Austin.
Crothersville dropped the match in four sets 13-25, 15-25, 25-22, 12-25.
“I think they definitely struggled with confidence at first,” head coach Carly Blevins said. “To begin, I think they were shaking off the rustiness.”
Crothersville won the first two points in the first two sets on Friday, but the Tigers couldn’t sustain enough momentum throughout those sets.
The Tigers were able to string some consecutive points together at the end of the first set, creating some positive vibes heading into the second set.
Trailing 16-7 in set two, the Tigers started to roll.
A couple of kills by Kennadi Lakins and Haley Williams, and a couple of aces from Makenna Newberry and Carlee Walker, cut the deficit to 18-14, forcing an Austin timeout.
Unfortunately that’s where the momentum stopped for the Tigers. The Eagles scored the next five points to take a commanding 23-14 lead in the set. Crothersville would get a couple back before dropping the set 25-15.
The third set was a back-and-forth affair. Crothersville had a 12-8 lead midway through the set.
But the Eagles responded with a 5-0 run, taking a 13-12 lead and causing Blevins to call a timeout.
The Eagles grabbed two more right out of the timeout to take a 15-12 lead, but Crothersville stopped the bleeding with three-straight points to even things at 15.
Crothersville went on to take a 17-15 lead, but Austin quickly tied it once again. No team gave an inch. The game was tied at 19, then 21, then 22, and then a Lakins kill gave the Tigers a 23-22 advantage.
Elayna Ord got a kill on the next play to give Crothersville a 24-22 lead, and then Pearl Shirly aced the Eagles on set point to win the third set.
“The third set they definitely started working more as a team and talking together,” Blevins said. “They were ready to fight.”
But the momentum didn’t carry into the fourth set. Austin jumped out to a 9-1 lead and never looked back. The Eagles won the fourth set 25-12 to defeat the Tigers 3-1.
Crothersville will be back in action today when it plays Mitchell and Clarksville at 9 a.m.
“Hopefully we can play like we did in the third set and just run with it from now on,” Blevins said.
Wins and losses aside, the Tigers were just happy to be back in action this season.
“It was nice to definitely play again, it was very nice,” Blevins said. “It was nice to see them out here again.”