Lady Bears dominate; Demonettes battle but fall to Lady Tigers and Lady Bears

WARNER ROBINS, Ga. – The Demonettes battled both the Harris County Lady Tigers and the Houston County Lady Bears on Thursday, Aug. 31.

The Demonettes struggled starting their first set with Harris County but kept their spirits high.

They had many positive moments with the setter Ava Sexton setting up hitters Zaiah Dantes and Clair Whitson.

Demonettes libero Katelyn Harris and Anna Grace Tyner made many defensive saves but were unable to keep the serve for consecutive points.

They were able to come back in the first set to but eventually lost 25-19.

The Demonettes needed to win the second set to force the third set, but were not successful as they started off slow and were not able to string points together to stay close to Harris County. At one point the Demonettes were down 16-10 but were able to string a few points together only to lose the set 25-17 and drop the match to Harris County.

The next match was between the Lady Bears and Harris County. Harris County started off strong against the Lady Bears, but they kept it close by altering serves.

Each team could only string together two to three points in the first set, but the Lady Bears had some timely blocks by Sarah Dunford and Ella Blasche and setting plays to kickstart the offense by Ava Mason and Harley Tye Mitchell.

The Lady Bears ended up losing the battle in the first set to Harris County 25-23.

They were able to draw closer only to side-out allowing Harris County to inch closer to 25.

In the second set the Lady Bears jumped out to a large lead and didn’t allow Harris County to recover. The closest Harris County ever got was seven points down.

Near the end of the set the Lady Bears built their lead with offensive setups by Mason and Mitchell with strong outside hitting Sarah Dunford and Ella Blasche and blocks by the middle.

The Lady Bears captured that set by a score of 25-16 and forced the decisive third set.

They continued to roll in the third and built a 10-3 lead, and captured the set at 15-8.

The night cap match was an inter-county matchup between the Lady Bears and the Demonettes. Each team has strong tradition and both sets were close throughout, although the Lady Bears came out on top in two sets.

The Demonettes found themselves down but with strong play by their seniors Whitson and Dantes, they came back from a deficit of 11-6 to trail by one at 11-10.

Neither team gave up and this set proved to excellent showcase of backrow defensive plays and offensive plays setup by the Demonettes’ setters Sexton and Whitson and the Lady Bears setters Mitchell and Mason.

The Demonettes and Lady Bears traded points until the Lady Bears captured the set at 25-22.

In the waning moments of the match the Lady Bears were up 20-17, putting pressure on the Demonettes to make good serves to the end.

The Demonettes, knowing they had to win to force the third set, started off strong and both schools kept it close.

Winding down in the set, the Lady Bears allowed the Demonettes to draw as close as 19-16.

The closest the Demonettes came was 23-20 and that is when the Lady Bears traded side-outs and the set and match ended on a hitting error into the net.

Demonettes coach Marlene Roberts was proud of the play and leadership of her seniors, and the positive vibes whether the team was winning or losing allows her team to fight to come back or hold leads in sets.

Lady Bears coach Zach Huelsman stated his team played down to the competition although the competition in Houston County continues to introduce challenges. He added that his team was able to overcome these shortfalls to capture the first match in three sets and the second match in two sets.

HHJ News