MEDORA — It was a back-and-forth battle throughout the evening as Medora and the Christian Academy of Madison clashed on the volleyball court Monday.

Despite holding an advantage in every set, the Hornets could not secure the win, dropping the game in a thrilling five sets.

Hornets Head Coach Hanna Hinderlider spoke about the outcome after the game.

“It was just a matter of us getting into our own heads and beating ourselves,” Hinderlider said. “We got frustrated after mistakes, and we continued to make the same silly mistakes.”

Medora took the first set 25-18 without much issue. Christian Academy would jump out to a 11-6 lead in the second set, before Hinderlider called a timeout to talk with the Hornets.

Medora rallied to take a 17-15 advantage, before the Hornets eventually retook the 23-18 lead. The Defenders rallied to win the set 27-25, tying the game at a set each heading into the third set.

The third set was no different. Medora held an even bigger advantage at 18-8, before the Defenders went on a 16-5 scoring run to take the 24-23 lead and going on to win, 27-25.

The fourth set went to the wire as well, but Medora pulled it out with a 27-25 win.

Medora had control of every set, but it seemed Defenders would lock in and play much cleaner volleyball as soon as their backs were against the wall.

Then came the fifth and final set of the evening.

Hornet Brelee Underwood had an ace to tie the fifth set at 5 each. Medora then took a 10-7 lead before it vanished and the Defenders stole the game after winning the fifth set 15-11.

Underwood and teammate Madison Reece, a junior, spoke about the game.

“I think the outcome was bad in my opinion,” Underwood said. “We can always do better, even the greatest of players make mistakes and we just have to move forward.”

“I feel like we did really good, until we got into our own heads like Coach (Hinderlider) mentioned,” Reece said. “We let it get into our heads.”

There were positives in the loss, Hinderlider said.

“The girls played good, played a lot better than people were expecting considering how young we are,” Hinderlider said. “I knew we could play like that. I’ve seen it in practice. I’m really proud of how they played tonight.”

Reece loves the energy the team brought in the first game of the season.

“We had a lot of energy tonight,” Reece said. “We’ve been working on that, hyping each other up and making sure we try not to get down. I feel like we did pretty good on covering, a lot better than we did last season.”

Underwood loves how close the Hornets are as a team.

“I enjoy the relationships and how close we are as a group,” Underwood said. “It’s because we are such a small school and there aren’t many people around. We are a tight and close group together.”

The Defenders will play another county team tomorrow in Crothersville, while Medora will host West Washington at 6 p.m. Thursday.

CA Madison 3, Medora 2

CA Madison def. Medora 18-25, 27-25, 27-25, 25-27, 15-11

Serves-Attempts-Aces

Serving: Lilian Hatchett, 24-27-11, Josie Bowers 13-14-3, Brelee Underwood, 10-14-4

Attempts-Kills

Attacking: Lilian Hatchett, 50-18, Brelee Underwood, 41-18

Digs: Brelee Underwood, 12. Lilian Hatchett, 10

Assists: Josie Bowers, 36