By By BRUCE HIXON Sports Editor
Two weeks off did not change two disturbing patterns in the T.R. Miller Lady Tigers volleyball season.
Perhaps the most disturbing pattern was the final result in Tuesday's home match against the Flomaton Lady Hurricanes, which was the 25-19, 25-16, 25-13 loss. That setback dropped the Lady Tigers to just 2-8 on the campaign.
Another area concern is the way the Lady Tigers have compiled that record.
"We can't put three good sets back-to-back-to-back. We'll usually play well in the first set and O.K. in the second set. After that our level of play really drops off," T.R. Miller coach Sharon Peacock said.
One statistic that backs up Peacock's words is both of the Lady Tigers wins this season have come in matches that used a two-out-of-three format. T.R. Miller has yet to win a match that used a three-out-of-five format.
Senior Courtney Krehbiel did her part to put the Lady Tigers in position to win the opening set with seven points, two aces and two kills. The last of Krehbiel's points, an ace, had the Lady Tigers down just 18-17.
Flomaton then used a defensive point, four service points and a couple of T.R. Miller hitting errors to net the win.
Set two followed a similar pattern. Four points by Krehbiel midway through the set had the Lady Tigers within 15-13, but they never scored another offensive point the rest of the set. T.R. Miller had only one offensive point (by Erin Byrne) that came from other than Krehbiel.
The Lady Tigers had just a brief 2-1 advantage in set three before the Flomaton seized control with a 12-0 run.
T.R. Miller's will play a tri-match at Escambia County Tuesday against the host school and Opp. Play starts at 4 p.m.