Following a late downfall against Monroe County Tuesday at home to suffer their first area loss, the W.S. Neal Lady Eagle volleyball team responded with a 3-2 area win at Jackson Thursday to improve to 4-6 overall and to 2-1 in area play.
The Lady Eagles defeated Jackson 3-2 winning set one 28-26 before losing set two 25-27.
In set three, the Lady Eagles took a 2-1 lead in the match as they won 25-20, but lost set four 13-25 to see the match get tied 2-2 and force a deciding fifth game.
In the fifth game, the Lady Eagles edged out Jackson 15-13 to get the win.
“This was a very big win for this team and it came at a great time for us,” W.S. Neal Lady Eagle head coach Jeff Haney said. “It’s been a tough week and we are excited about ending it with a win. I can’t say enough about how well this team played tonight. It was a hard fought victory right down to the last point. Ashlyn Lambeth had a great night from the service line. In set three, we were down 16-10 when Ashlyn began her serve. When she finished we were up 23-16. That was a huge swing of momentum for us.”
Haney said his team’s sets were pretty good tonight and his hitters did a good job scoring for them.
“Stephanie Lambert had a great game at the net and had seven kills during that 13-point run in game three,” Haney said. “We don’t play next week due to the graduation exam, but we have some time to practice in preparation for a tournament at Pleasant Home next Saturday. Hopefully we can carry this momentum into that tournament.”
In game one, Gracee Dixon led with six service points and Paige Grantham had three. Ashlyn Lambeth had four, Kendal Clayton had two and Lauren Boatwright added one.
In game two, Dixon had four, Grantham had five and Clayton had five while in game three, Dixon had won, Lambeth had 13 straight and Clayton had one.
In game four, Dixon and Grantham had one while Lambeth had two.
In the deciding game five, Dixon had one, Lambeth had five and Boatwright had two.
W.S. Neal will play in the Pleasant Home tournament Saturday, Sept. 24 at 9 a.m.