In the first meeting of the year Thursday in East Brewton between the T.R. Miller Lady Tigers and the W.S. Neal Lady Eagles, W.S Neal picked up a 3-1 win to improve to 3-0 this season and to 1-0 in area play. With the loss, T.R. Miller fell to 1-1 overall and to 0-1 in area play.
W.S. Neal jumped out to a 2-0 lead over T.R. Miller winning set one 25-13 and set two 25-21. In the third set, T.R. Miller cut the lead to 2-1 with a 25-13.
In the fourth set, W.S. Neal led T.R. Miller 21-13 late before seeing the Lady Tigers rally to take a 22-21. With T.R. Miller lurking to win the fourth set and force a fifth, W.S. Neal rallied with a 25-22 win to take the match 3-1.
“It is the way we wanted to start,” Haney said of the 3-0 start to the season. “We had kind of a warm up game to start with (against Excel) and we have had two tough games since this week. We have come out with victories in all three of them and two this week. To be 3-0, I am extremely pleased. The girls played great and they played hard.”
While the win and the 3-0 start to the season is good, Haney said there are things his team needs to work on.
“We just have to get more mental tough and play hard all the time,” he said, alluding to the almost late collapse against T.R. Miller in set three and four and the collapse against Flomaton in sets three and four earlier in the week. “We are capable to come out and we are real explosive and we score some points and get ahead then we slack off for a minute. We have got to be able to hammer down the whole time and finish things in three sets like we are supposed to. With a win over (T.R.) Miller 3-1, I will take it. This was not only a big win against our rival, but it was also our first area win this season. Being back in 3A with Miller in the area makes this game so much bigger than normal.”
T.R. Miller Lady Tiger head coach Greg White said overall it was not a good night Thursday.
“We started off every game we lost in the hole,” White said. “We are not quite good enough to do that yet. We can’t just give a team eight points and come back and win it like we have been able to in the last couple of years. We are just not that type of team this year. Serving really hurt us tonight also.”
While the loss Thursday was tough to swallow for White and the Lady Tigers, White said he told his team after the game that it is only the second game of the season.
“I am not hitting the panic button yet,” White said. “We just don’t have that fluidness yet to what we are doing. There are six players on the court but all six of them are not playing together. We just have to find that continuity. I have some good players, I just have to put them in the right position at the right time and that falls on my shoulders. We will get back to work on Tuesday and get ready for the next match.”
In middle school action Thursday, Brewton defeated W.S. Neal 2-1. Brewton took set one 25-23 while W.S. Neal took set two 25-23. In the third and final set, Brewton pulled out a 15-11 win to improve to 2-0 this season while W.S. Neal fell to 1-1.
In JV action, T.R. Miller won 2-0—25-18 and 25-15—to improve to 2-0 this season while the Lady Eagles fell to 2-1.
W.S. Neal will be back in action Tuesday at Pleasant Home. Game time is set for 4 p.m. with the middle school teams playing first followed by the JV teams and then the varsity.
T.R. Miller will be back in action Thursday at home against Monroe County. Game time is set for 4 p.m. with JV playing first then varsity set for 5 p.m.
Brewton Middle School will be back in action Tuesday, Sept.11 when they travel to Pleasant Home for a 4 p.m. tip.

BMS 2, WSNMS 1
In middle school action Thursday, Brewton took down W.S. Neal Middle 2-1.
For W.S. Neal in set one, Caitlyn Stuckey led with six straight service points while Madison Douglas led Brewton with four straight.
In set two, W.S. Neal was led by Meme Lawson with five straight points while Bethany McDonald had five to led Brewton.
In the third and deciding set, Kaitlyn Salter led W.S. Neal with two points and Steely Ruzic led Brewton with six.

TRM JV 2, WSN 0
In JV action, T.R. Miller won 2-0 to stay undefeated while W.S. Neal suffered their first loss.
In set one, W.S. Neal jumped out to an early 9-0 lead only to see T.R. Miller rally to get the win 25-18.
Brittany Lucas led W.S. Neal with 10 service points. Krystal Bell led T.R. Miller with seven points.
In set two, Tiffany Robinson led W.S. Neal with three points. Bell led T.R. Miller with seven points.

WSN varsity 3, TRM 1
W.S. Neal jumped on T.R. Miller early and held on for a win in set four to win the match 3-1.
In set one for W.S. Neal, Gracee Dixon led with seven service point and two aces. Abbi Roberts led T.R. Miller with three points and one kill.
In set two, Dixon led with five points and one ace and was joined by Tykeria Nolan with five points. For T.R. Miller, Amber Terry led with seven points and one ace.
In the third set, Dixon led W.S. Neal again with two points and one ace. For T.R. Miller, Karisa Nelson led with seven points, one ace and two kills.
In the fourth and final set, Jodi Busby and Kaitlin Hadaway led the Lady Eagles. Both had four points and one ace.
For T.R. Miller, Jessica Allan led with eight points.