Published: August 20, 2008 01:08 am            

Lady Eagles hang on for 3-2 win over Frost

FROST — Ahead 2-1 and up 18-10 in the fourth game against Mildred, it appeared Frost was on it’s way to a win.

The Lady Eagles, however, proved just how much they wanted their first win of the season.

Mildred battled back to beat the Lady Polar Bears, 3-2 (23-25, 25-17, 21-25, 25-20, 15-12) Tuesday at Frost Gymnasium.

The experience and resiliency of the Lady Eagles is what Mildred coach Lynell McKissack said kept them in the match.

“They have been playing together for a couple of years now,” McKissack said. “So it was just a matter of them taking control of the game.

“My seniors really took control and led the game for us.”

The Lady Bears (2-2, 0-0 District 13-1A) trailed Mildred 17-20 in the first game, but kills by Aubree Patton and Ashley Cain, along with some solid serving by Lisa Belcher, allowed Frost to rally for a one-point advantage.

Cain finished things off with her fourth kill of the match to give Frost the 25-23 win. She ended the night with nine kills and two service aces for Frost.

In game two, the entire Mildred team got involved as it held off Frost for a 25-17 victory.

Victoria Taylor, Carrie Horn, Hilary Vinson, Mandie Raley and Candace Pope each had a kill in the game while Kayli Smotherman knocked in two kills.

The Lady Bears rebounded in game three as Cain’s three kills gave Frost a 14-11 advantage.

The Lady Eagles (1-2, 0-0 District 14-2A) stayed on Frost’s heels the rest of the way, but the Lady Bears held their lead for a 25-21 win.

Frost continued its momentum in the fourth game, jumping out to a 10-4 advantage. Errors, however began to cost them as Mildred crept to within two points.

The Lady Bears found their rhythm again to go ahead 18-10 with the help of two kills by Charity Votolato.

Again errors came back to hurt Frost.

The Lady Eagles put the pressure on to tie the game 18-18 with a Victoria Taylor kill giving them the edge.

Mildred kept the pace to win the game 25-20 and tie the match at 2-2.

“We did a good job tonight,” Cain said. “But we had some minor errors that we will work on.

“We just didn’t stay focused and into the game when we had the lead.”

In the fifth and final game, Frost’s Belcher went to work, scoring three of the Lady Bears first four points on kills. Belcher later added a service ace to put Frost ahead 9-6.

Again Mildred responded.

Smotherman came up with two clutch kills on the way to a 15-12 Mildred win.

Smotherman finished the match with 11 kills.

Frost coach Terri Boyd said that while she was disappointed in the outcome of the match, she was not disappointed in the effort of her players.

“We played hard,” Boyd said. “Obviously we did not mean to give up that eight-point lead in the fourth game.

“It was just one of those things were we lost confidence in what we were doing. We are a young team and our youth showed.”

        

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