Monday afternoon in an area tri-match against No. 1 Bayside Academy and Clarke County, is was also pink night and senior night for the T.R. Miller Lady Tiger volleyball.

The Lady Tigers wore special pink jerseys to help raise money for the school’s Relay for Life team.

In the games Monday, T.R. Miller claimed the area runner-up spot for the area tournament as they lost to Bayside 3-0, but defeated Clarke County 3-0. With the split, T.R. Miller improved to 14-7 overall and finished 4-2 in area play.

Against Bayside, T.R. Miller lost 25-13, 25-14, and 25-16 to the No. 1-ranked team and class 3A and defending state champs for the past seven years.

Against Clarke County, T.R. Miller won 3-0 winning 25-8, 26-24, and 25-18.

Against Bayside, T.R. Miller Lady Tiger head coach Greg White said the scoreboard did not really show it, but his team played pretty hard against those guys.

“They are just a very good volleyball team that doesn’t make many mistakes and if you do make a mistake they will make you pay for it,” White said. “Their net play is very good. We blocked a few shots and had a few kills ourselves but we just couldn’t stop them consistently and get anything going offensively.”

Against Clarke County, White said his team came out in game one and really got after it and built a huge lead and was able to get the win.

“Games two and three were really tough and we knew that Clarke County was a lot better than they played in game one,” White said. “We had to show a lot of toughness in game two because Clarke County didn’t quit and we battled to the 26-24 win. We were ahead for most of game three but they tied it up late at 19-19. We had some good serving down the stretch to seal the win.”

White said the win over Clarke County put the Lady Tigers as runners-up in the area and therefore will play CCHS again next Monday.

“The area tournament will now be at Bayside and we have to win for a chance to play in the regional tournament,” White said.

As for pink night and senior night, White said he wants to say thank you to the students and fans who came out tonight in their pink.

“Thanks to all who supported us and to those who made donations to the ‘Dig for a Cure’ donation for breast cancer awareness,” White said. “As for the seniors, we have five seniors who mean a great deal to me and to the T.R. Miller volleyball program. Leigh Margaret Bostic, Teralyn Moore, Natalie Neal, Elizabeth Nelson and Emily Waters have all played volleyball at T.R. miller since they were in the seventh grade. They have put in a lot of hours of hard work and made many sacrifices over the past six seasons and I am going to miss their work ethic and leadership. These young ladies truly love T.R. Miller and it shows in the way they carry themselves on and off of the court.”

Bayside Aca. 3, T.R. Miller 0

Against top ranked Bayside, the Lady Admirals defeated T.R. Miller 3-0 jumping out to big leads in the first two sets.

In set one, Bayside held leads of 8-0, 12-1, and 14-2 before T.R. Miller cut the lead to 22-12 before losing 25-13.

Taylor Guthrie led with two service points and one kill.

In set two, Bayside lead 5-0, 6-1, and 10-2 before T.R. Miller cut the lead to 19-1, but lost 25-14.

Elizabeth Nelson led with two service points and Amber Nelson had two kills.

In set three, T.R. Miller led 4-2, but then fell behind 13-5, but cut the lead to 21-14 before losing 25-16.

Leah Brundidge led with three service points and one ace.

T.R. Miller 3,

Clarke County 0

Against Clarke County, T.R. Miller won 25-8, 26-24, and 25-18.

In set one, Brundidge started the game off with seven straight service points. Clarke County had four straight of their own followed by Guthrie with seven more to make score 14-4. Neal and Bostic then had four straight each and Guthrie had six kills and four blocks and Elizabeth Nelson had six assist.

In set two, Waters led with eight service points and Guthrie had five and six kills and four blocks. Brundidge had four points and seven assists while Neal had three, five kills, and three blocks.

In set three, Nelson had seven service points and six assist while Brundidge had six and seven assists, Guthrie had five kills, Neal had six kills, Bostic had four and Waters have five service points.