Tigers disappoint Redwood in three sets, remain atop WYL volleyball standings

Sarah McCann faces off against Rangers on Tuesday.
Sarah McCann faces off against Rangers on Tuesday.
Photo by Chris Garcia, Newman Garcia Studio

The Tigers looked to have their hands full Tuesday night when Redwood High School came visiting, sporting a 12-1 overall record in volleyball action.

The Rangers also were 2-0 in the diverse West Yosemite League and rested atop the league standings after victories over Hanford and Hanford West.

Fortunately for the Tigers they didn’t seem to mind what Redwood’s record was or that they came into Tuesday’s match 2-0 in the WYL. The Tigers sent the Rangers packing in three straight sets, albeit the matches were close. It helped that Coach Rachel Taylor’s crew played as if they were playing for the valley championship.

A couple of nights later Lemoore beat Mt. Whitney in three straight sets 25-18, 25-23, 25-21 to improved to 3-0 in WYL play.

Lemoore Volleyball Schedule

WYL Standings

Yes the Ranger were good, but not quite good enough to knock Lemoore out of the race for the WYL title. The Tigers won in three sets, 25-21, 25-22, and 25-24 in overtime to improve to 3-0 in league play and 15-6 overall.

“Redwood is a very good team,” said Taylor after watching her team play perhaps one of its best matches of the year. “They (Redwood) played hard. They are a very good defensive team and we were too, so it basically came down to who was going to last the longest in the rallies, and we came down with a couple of good hitters. They had some really good hitters too. They were a little bit off tonight. I know they usually hit better than that. They’re a solid team, but we played really well tonight.”

Lemoore hits the road for a Thursday game at Mt. Whitney and return home next Tuesday for a match against the other WYL powerhouse, El Diamante, one of the top five ranked teams in Division II Central Section play. The Tigers split their two WYL games last year with the Miners and lost to them in the Central Section championship game.

In Tuesday’s first game, Lemoore took the early lead on a pair of Jessica Taylor kills that handed her team a quick 7-4 lead. The Rangers promptly got back into the match and led 14-12 before Sarah McCann finished off a furious rally with a superb slam that cut the gap to just one at 14-13.

“We played really solid tonight. We only had played with not a lot of errors. We only had two service errors. That’s huge for us when we don’t make a lot of errors,” said Taylor

Lemoore tied the contest at 18-18 and never looked back, eventually winning the game 25-21 on a picture perfect set from Maggie Billingsley to Taylor who promptly dispatched the Rangers with her ferocious kill.

Lemoore never trailed in the second set but Redwood kept threatening. Following a nice setup from Lemoore’s Faith Wyatt for a Tiger kill, Lemoore lead 19-16. But once again, a battling Ranger squad closed the gap to 19-18 before Lemoore finally took advantage of a couple of Redwood errors and Shayla Nichols scored on a huge slam to give her Tiger team a 23-18 lead. Billingsley scored the final point for a Lemoore 25-22 win.

Redwood took the Tigers overtime in the third game before Lemoore finally won on a block.

WYL Opener

Lemoore's defending champion West Yosemite League champion volleyball team is off to a strong start as they hope to retain their title, defeating Hanford West in the league opener last Tuesday. The Tigers face another tough, probably one they didn't expect when they host Redwood High School Tuesday night in Lemoore. The Rangers are 2-0 in league play and earned decisive three-set victories over Hanford High School and Hanford West last week.

Ranger Coach Alana Montgomery's Ranger team is off to a 12-1 start this season and are on a roll after two WYL contests.

Lemoore Coach Rachel Taylor's volleyball team got off to a solid footing in the race for another West Yosemite League championship by defeating Hanford West in the league opener Tuesday 3-0. The Tigers completely outplayed the Huskies winning soundly in the first set 25-12, and then capturing the second and third sets 25-16 and 25-13.

Jessica Taylor had 39 kills for the Tigers to lead the Tigers to their 11th win against six losses. Maggie Billingsley had 83 assists. Taylor also had seven serving aces and 31 digs.

The volleyball ladies also finished sixth in last weekend’s Madera Tournament. On Friday they narrowly lost to a powerful Bakersfield team in two sets 25-21, 25-21. They also lost to Madera in three 25-19, 13-25, 15-13. In the tourney Lemoore won six matches and dropped just two.

San Luis Obispo Tournament

In one of the top volleyball tournaments in California, the San Luis Obispo Volleyball Tournament, Lemoore’s talented spikers found themselves in the “Gold” bracket, meaning they were among the final group of teams battling for the tournament championship. Unfortunately, the Tigers, who played themselves into the finals bracket, dropped a close 25-21 decision to Oxnard to finish 13th overall.

The San Luis Obispo volleyball event features top teams from throughout California, several from the Valley, including Lemoore. Saturday's loss to Oxnard was a single match elimination bracket. Lemoore's next action will be in the Madera Tournament beginning Friday, September 21. The Tigers will open West Yosemite League action and begin their question for another league title with a September 24 match at Hanford West.

The Tigers went 4-3 in the tourney after playing two more three-set matches on Saturday prior to beginning single-match elimination play in the afternoon (Saturday). Lemoore, Saturday afternoon lost to Moorpark in three sets before beating Kingsburg. Lemoore started Thursday night with a thrilling 25-13, 12-25, 17-25, 25-15, and 16-14 victory over Exeter in the tourney’s opening round. Then on Friday Lemoore defeated Morro Bay 20-25, 25-18, 25-17 before taking two sets to beat the Central Coast’s Oak Park 8-25, 20-25.

After the first three games, Jessica Taylor had 21 kills while her Tiger teammates were playing excellent defense. Tiger Coach Rachel Taylor lauded the play of Shayla Nichols and Lisette Brown, who she said were doing an excellent job in the back row.

Their first loss occurred early Saturday morning when the Tigers lost in three to Bueno High from Ventura 25-20, 25-20, 15-11. The 4-2 record though was good enough to get them into the Gold bracket to play for the tourney title.

Taylor is more than pleased with her squad. “This is a big tournament, and I’m really happy with how they’re playing,” she said from San Luis Obispo. “They weren’t intimidated by anyone in this tournament. They came here to win.

“For this team to get into the final 18, I’m real excited,” said Taylor.

 

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